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LONDON - Madeline McCann's parents could have independent forensic tests carried out on the hire car they used after the British girl disappeared.
A family friend said the Renault Scenic was being kept in a "safe place", believed to be a pound at Faro airport in Portugal, The Independent newspaper reported today.
The Budget rental firm said earlier this week Madeline's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, had not returned the car, which is at the centre of Portuguese police evidence against them.
Madeline, then aged three, disappeared on May 3 after being put to bed along with her two-year-old twin siblings before their parents went to dinner at the same holiday complex in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz.
The McCanns, who vehemently deny any involvement in Madeline's disappearance, returned with the twins to their Leicestershire home this week after being named as suspects by Portuguese police.
Neither parent has been arrested or charged.
Police sources have reportedly told Portuguese media that "bodily fluids" with an 88 per cent match to Madeline were found in the car, which was hired 25 days after Madeline vanished.
Britain's Evening Standard newspaper has quoted a police source saying the bodily fluids came from a decomposing corpse.
While Portuguese authorities examined the car, they did not seize it and an independent forensic examination could give the McCanns the opportunity to discount police findings.
Meanwhile, Sky News today reported a Portuguese judge had signed a warrant allowing officers to seize items from the McCann's home.
The items are believed to include Kate McCann's diary and her husband's laptop.
- AAP
