- by: By Lucy Bennett
- From: news.com.au
- September 14, 2007 12:00AM
- Maddie died of sleeping pills overdose - media reports
- Body fluids in car 'show sedation'
- McCann English home set to be raided
FORENSIC tests show Madeleine McCann died of an overdose of sleeping pills, media reports said today.
Body fluids found in the boot of a car hired by the parents of the missing four-year-old British girl 25 days after she went missing in Portugal showed she had been sedated, according to a French newspaper which said it had seen the evidence.
France Soir said DNA results of the fluids showed Maddie had swallowed enough sleeping pills to cause an overdose.
Guilhem Buttut, an investigative reporter for the newspaper, said he had seen "hard evidence" about Madeleine's death in a report now in the hands of Portuguese prosecutors, the metro.co.uk news website reported.
Sources close to the investigation said earlier this week that police discovered an 88 per cent DNA match to Madeleine in the boot of the McCanns' rented Renault Scenic.
It was also reported that hair was found in the boot, allegedly showing that her body had been in it.
The McCanns are reportedly planning their own independent forensic tests on the hire car.
A family friend said the car was being kept in a "safe place", believed to be a pound at Faro airport in Portugal, The Independent newspaper reported today.
The latest revelations come as Portuguese media reported that police wanted to question Madeleine's mother Kate yet again.
Sources close to the McCanns said they were not aware of plans for a second interrogation.
Police may also quiz her about her diary, which police are seeking, along with her husband Gerry's laptop computer.
There are suggestions the diary has already been seen by detectives who took photocopies but police want to examine it in more detail.
Overnight, a warrant was passed from Portuguese authorities to British police to go to the McCanns' home in Rothley, Leicestershire, as early as today.
Portuguese newspapers said yesterday that they had seen the photocopies of extracts.
Correio da Manha said Mrs McCann wrote in the diary that her children were "hysterical" and exhausted her.
It also said her husband gave her little help with family chores.
"She complains frequently that her children are 'hysterical' and speaks of Madeleine as a child whose excess activity exhausts her," the paper said.
The daily Publico said Mrs McCann's worries about her children's behaviour and her difficulties disciplining them were contained in the diary.
Social workers have also visited the MCanns to discuss the welfare of the couple's two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.
It is standard practice for a mother or father named as a suspect overseas to have their case considered by British authorities.
Body fluids found in the boot of a car hired by the parents of the missing four-year-old British girl 25 days after she went missing in Portugal showed she had been sedated, according to a French newspaper which said it had seen the evidence.
France Soir said DNA results of the fluids showed Maddie had swallowed enough sleeping pills to cause an overdose.
Guilhem Buttut, an investigative reporter for the newspaper, said he had seen "hard evidence" about Madeleine's death in a report now in the hands of Portuguese prosecutors, the metro.co.uk news website reported.
Buttut said toxicological tests on the liquids "proved the little girl had ingested medicines, without doubt sleeping pills, in quantities large enough to cause an overdose".
Sources close to the investigation said earlier this week that police discovered an 88 per cent DNA match to Madeleine in the boot of the McCanns' rented Renault Scenic.
It was also reported that hair was found in the boot, allegedly showing that her body had been in it.
The McCanns are reportedly planning their own independent forensic tests on the hire car.
A family friend said the car was being kept in a "safe place", believed to be a pound at Faro airport in Portugal, The Independent newspaper reported today.
The latest revelations come as Portuguese media reported that police wanted to question Madeleine's mother Kate yet again.
Sources close to the McCanns said they were not aware of plans for a second interrogation.
Police may also quiz her about her diary, which police are seeking, along with her husband Gerry's laptop computer.
There are suggestions the diary has already been seen by detectives who took photocopies but police want to examine it in more detail.
Overnight, a warrant was passed from Portuguese authorities to British police to go to the McCanns' home in Rothley, Leicestershire, as early as today.
Portuguese newspapers said yesterday that they had seen the photocopies of extracts.
Correio da Manha said Mrs McCann wrote in the diary that her children were "hysterical" and exhausted her.
It also said her husband gave her little help with family chores.
"She complains frequently that her children are 'hysterical' and speaks of Madeleine as a child whose excess activity exhausts her," the paper said.
The daily Publico said Mrs McCann's worries about her children's behaviour and her difficulties disciplining them were contained in the diary.
Social workers have also visited the MCanns to discuss the welfare of the couple's two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.
It is standard practice for a mother or father named as a suspect overseas to have their case considered by British authorities.
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