British police probing new phone records in missing Madeleine McCann case

British woman Kate McCann (right) the mother of Madeleine McCann who disappeared in Algarve region, southern Portugal, in 2007, and her mother Susan Healy leave the civil court in Lisbon, Friday, Sept 13, 2013. British police said they were looking a
British woman Kate McCann (right) the mother of Madeleine McCann who disappeared in Algarve region, southern Portugal, in 2007, and her mother Susan Healy leave the civil court in Lisbon, Friday, Sept 13, 2013. British police said they were looking at new cell phone data to advance their investigation into the disappearance of Ms McCann who vanished from a resort in Portugal six years ago. --  FILE PHOTO: AP

LONDON (REUTERS) - British police said they were looking at new cell phone data to advance their investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann who vanished from a resort in Portugal six years ago.

Ms McCann, who was three years old at the time, went missing from her room at the Praia da Luz holiday resort in the Algarve on May 2007 while her parents were dining with friends at a nearby restaurant, leading to a global search.

A new inquiry in Britain, which began two months ago, is focused on thousands of phone records from the resort at the time.

London police said on Friday they had made 31 requests in various countries for information concerning telephones used then. There are 41 potential suspects, described as 'persons of interest', and 15 are British nationals.

British authorities launched a review of the case in 2011 after McCann's parents wrote to British Prime Minister David Cameron saying not enough was being done to find their daughter.

Portuguese police hired six officers in Faro to carry out inquiries on behalf of British police, though this does not mean that they have or will reopen the investigation. The two forces will meet to discuss the case in a few weeks time.

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