Police admit Madeleine may be dead

Portuguese police have publicly acknowledged for the first time that missing tot Madeleine McCann could be dead.

The comments, made by Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, come 100 days after the child disappeared from her family's holiday apartment.

As Kate and Gerry McCann clung to the hope that their daughter will be found alive, Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said new evidence had given "intensity" to the possibility she was killed.

In an apparent reference to the discovery of blood specks at the McCanns' flat, he said renewed searches using British sniffer dogs had revealed clues which could point to Madeleine's death.

Mr Sousa also said the young girl's parents were not being considered as suspects despite reports in Portuguese papers this week suggesting they were now under suspicion.

Earlier today the McCanns attended a service of prayers for their missing daughter as they marked the 100th day since her disappearance.

The parents made emotional pleas for people to keep looking and praying for Madeleine at the service in the church in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, where she vanished on May 3.

Scores of holidaymakers and locals, many dressed in green and yellow to symbolise hope, kissed the couple and shook their hands to show their support during the hour-long service.

The couple have insisted that they will not be "bullied" into leaving Portugal by the growing backlash against them by the Portuguese media.

Mr McCann said: "It's incredibly difficult when people are implying that your daughter's dead and that you may have been involved in it."

Meanwhile stars from the worlds of rugby, football and horse racing will urge people at major sporting events around the UK to help find the young girl.

© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.