The family of Madeleine McCann say the announcement by police of a new suspect in her disappearance is a significant development.

The family of Madeleine McCann say the announcement by police of a new suspect in her disappearance is a significant development.
“Kate and Gerry do feel it’s potentially very significant,” said Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for the family, told BBC radio.
Madeleine vanished on 3 May 2007 from the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal where she and her parents and twin siblings were staying.
Yesterday, German police said a sex offender, currently in prison in Germany, is a prime suspect in the little girl’s disappearance.
The German national is known to have been in and around the area on the Algarve coast at the time Madeleine went missing shortly before her fourth birthday.
Mr Mitchell said the McCanns have never given up hope that Madeleine is alive, but they are realistic.
He said her parents need to know what happened to their daughter to find peace. 
The suspect has been linked to an early 1980s VW T3 Westfalia camper van – with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal – which was pictured in the Algarve in 2007.
Scotland Yard said he was driving the vehicle in the Praia da Luz area in the days before Madeleine’s disappearance and is believed to have been living in it for days or weeks before and after 3 May 2007.
The suspect is known to have been linked to the Praia da Luz area between 1995 and 2007, with some short spells in Germany, and is described as having a “transient lifestyle”, living in his camper van for days at a time.
An appeal on German Crimewatch-style programme XY said he is thought to have worked odd jobs, including as a waiter, but also committed burglaries in hotels and holiday resorts and dealt drugs.
He was also linked to two houses in Portugal – one between Praia da Luz and Lagos and a second inland, according to the appeal.
Additional Reporting PA