McCanns have 'no doubt' Portuguese police will reopen Madeleine case

Kate and Gerry McCann said they have "no doubt" the Portuguese police will eventually reopen the investigation into their missing daughter's disappearance.

Speaking on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Madeleine going missing, the McCanns added their voices to calls from Scotland Yard for the case to be reopened.

Police in Portugal last week said they had found "no new element" to justify re-launching their inquiry into how the little girl vanished on a family holiday to the Algarve in May 2007.

His 44-year-old wife added:

The McCanns told ITV News' Mary Nightingale they were "more hopeful" now than they ever have been before that their daughter will be found.

Kate and Gerry's hope comes after the officer leading Scotland Yard's review of the original investigation into Madeleine's disappearance spoke last week of his belief that the case can still be solved and said there is evidence she could still be alive.

Speaking to ITV1's Daybreak last week, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said the Metropolitan Police would like the case to be reopened, but stressed that the decision was one for Portugal.

Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3 2007 as her parents dined at a restaurant with friends nearby.

The official Portuguese investigation into the case was formally shelved in July 2008, although private detectives employed by the McCanns continued the search.

Scotland Yard's review of the case, called Operation Grange, was launched last May after a request from Home Secretary Theresa May supported by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Metropolitan Police officers have already sifted through 40,000 pieces of information and identified 195 potential leads.

Earlier, Kate McCann told Lorraine Kelly she found it too difficult to imagine a reunion with her daughter.