Today is Gerry McGann's 39th birthday. But the only figure on his mind will be the 33 days his daughter has been missing. And for him and his wife Kate it will be business as usual - desperately seeking Madeleine It was revealed yesterday that investigating officers have not had a single meeting with them for the last 11 days despite the McCanns' requests for a formal exchange of information. The wall of silence means the couple are receiving most of their updates either through British police or from news reports - and they have had no chance to talk face-to-face to senior investigating officers since May 24. The lack of communication was described as 'staggering' by sources close to the investigation in the UK yesterday. One said that talking regularly to parents of a missing child should play a major part in an inquiry, for both emotional and operational reasons. He added: "Getting round the table every now and then can often produce a germ of information which could ultimately provide a new lead, or at least short-circuit wasteful lines of inquiry. At the very least, it would keep them informed of the progress of the investigation. If the Portuguese police are not doing that, they are missing a trick." Portugal's 'secrecy of justice' laws prevent officers from talking publicly about an active investigation, one of the major frustrations for the McCanns and the media. At the couple's last meeting with police, they were understood to be impressed with the youngest of the three senior investigating officers. Luis Neves, 41-year-old national director of the DCCB, the Portuguese equivalent of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, appeared to have a good grasp of the case and gave a detailed progress report. But since then another scheduled meeting was cancelled, and there has been none since.
Source: Daily Mail
