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LONDON - Portuguese detectives investigating the disappearance of missing British girl Madeleine McCann are due to visit England on Wednesday, Sky News television reported.
The officials are travelling to Britain to speak to police in Leicestershire, where the McCanns live, Sky News said, adding that it would be the first time that Portuguese officers involved in the search for the girl have travelled to Britain.
Sky said a team of four detectives would fly to Britain, and may include Portugal's second most senior policeman, Paulo Rebelo, two forensic officers and a representative from the country's national pathology institute.
There was no immediate confirmation of the report.
An officer who picked up the phone at the Leicestershire Constabulary late Tuesday night said he did not know anything about the visit but would check with his superiors. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with force policy.
It has been more than six months since Madeleine disappeared from her family's hotel room in Portugal, only a few days short of her fourth birthday.
Her parents, Kate and Gerry, mounted an impassioned campaign to find their daughter, drawing worldwide attention and an outpouring of international sympathy, but the case took a startling twist when Portuguese police formally naming them as suspects in September.
The parents, who had previously vowed to stay in Portugal, left soon afterward. But they have pledged to keep fighting to find Madeleine, hiring private investigators and setting up an anonymous telephone line.
Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for the McCanns, could not immediately be reached for comment.
- AP
