Timeline: Madeleine McCann's disappearance in 2007

Undated family handout photo of Madeleine McCann who disappeared in 2007. Credit: PA

The Met Police has announced that there are 38 people of interest in their new inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Here is a timeline of some of the key events since she went missing:

  • May 3 2007: Madeleine McCann goes missing from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, while her parents Gerry and Kate are at a nearby restaurant.

  • May 5 2007: Portuguese detectives say they believe Madeleine is still alive and in the country after being abducted.

  • May 9 2007: Two tourists claim they saw the missing girl in Morocco, with one Norwegian woman claiming that she saw Madeleine at a petrol station asking a man: "Can I see mummy soon?"

  • May 14 2007: Police search the home of British expatriate Robert Murat, who lives close to where Madeleine went missing. He is questioned but not formally arrested. Detectives also search Murat's mother's home.

A Portuguese police officer looks at a poster of missing Madeleine McCann. Credit: Steve Parsons/PA Archive
  • August 11 2007: Police publicly acknowledge for the first time that Madeleine could be dead. It is 100 days since she went missing.

  • September 6 2007: Kate McCann is questioned by police in Portugal.

  • September 7 2007: After hours of questioning, Kate McCann is declared an "arguida" - someone who has not been formally arrested or charged but is seen as more than a witness.

  • September 8 2007: Gerry McCann is also made an arguido.

Gerry McCann arrives at the police station in Portimao, Portugal, on September 8 2007. Credit: Steve Parsons/PA Archive
  • September 19 2007: It is ruled that there is not enough evidence to continue questioning the McCann's over Madeleine's disappearance.

  • October 2 2007: The officer leading the inquiry, Goncalo Amaral, is removed from the Madeleine case and demoted.

  • October 25 2007: The McCanns release an artist's impression of the suspect as described by friend Jane Tanner, who claimed she saw a man carrying a child away from the holiday apartments on the night Madeleine went missing.

An artist's impression of a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case. Credit: PA
  • February 13 2008: Portuguese police say the search for Madeleine is winding down.

  • March 19 2008: Express Newspapers pay the McCanns £550,000 in damages over articles on Madeleine's disappearance.

Both the Daily Express and Daily Star carried front page apologies to the McCanns. Credit: PA
  • May 3 2008: Kate and Gerry urge people to "pray like mad" Madeleine returns. It is the first anniversary of her disappearance.

  • July 21 2008: Portuguese police shelve the investigation, meaning Gerry and Kate McCann and Robert Murat are removed as suspects.

  • July 24 2008: Amaral, the Portuguese officer who led the McCann case, releases a book called 'The Truth Of The Lie'. He claims Madeleine died in the holiday flat on May 3 2007.

  • September 23 2009: The McCanns return to Portugal for the first time since Madeleine's disappearance.

A picture of Madeleine taken on the family's holiday in Praia Da Luz. Credit: PA
  • March 6 2010: Previously unseen Portuguese files on Madeleine's case are released to the British press which details possible sightings. The McCanns criticise the release of the files.

  • May 12 2011: At a press conference promoting a book on their daughter's disappearance, Gerry and Kate urge David Cameron to launch a review of all information relating to the disappearance on Madeleine.

Kate and Gerry McCann holding their book 'Madeleine' about their daughter's disappearance in 2007. Credit: Anthony Devlin/PA Archive
  • November 23 2011: Kate and Gerry McCann appear at the Leveson inquiry. Kate McCann says she felt violated when her journal appeared in the News of the World.

  • May 17 2013: Scotland Yard detectives investigating the disappearance say they are encouraged by the progress being made and have identified "a handful of people of interest". ITV News reporter Sejal Karia reports:

  • July 4 2013: The Met Police announce that they have identified 38 people of interest in the Madeleine case. They also announce that the review into the missing girl is now an investigation.