Madeleine McCann: UK prosecutors visit Portugal to discuss new leads Madeleine McCann went missing from her parents" holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in 2007. Senior prosecutors have travelled to Portugal in a move that could pave the way for the Metropolitan police to begin a new investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Alison Saunders, the senior crown prosecutor for London, and her colleague Jenny Hopkins, head of the complex casework unit, discussed new leads in the inquiry with their Portuguese counterparts. A £5m Met review of the case, which began in 2011, has uncovered a number of potential suspects who have not been interviewed. Detectives have said they need to be questioned in order for them to be eliminated or pursued further. The visit of Saunders and Hopkins, accompanied by Met investigators, is a significant development - and adds to speculation that the Met are about to begin a new investigation into the disappearance of the three-year-old in May 2007. A spokeswoman for the CPS confirmed that prosecutors from CPS London and investigators from the MPS had visited their Portuguese counterparts to discuss the disappearance. Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell, who supervised the Met review, said recently that there were a number of individuals who needed to be questioned in relation to the investigation as well as further forensic opportunities to examine. It is understood that up to 20 individuals need to be questioned. These include some known child offenders who were in the Algarve at the time Madeleine disappeared. The Met began a review into the case - funded by the Home Office - after Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, appealed to the prime minister, David Cameron, for help. The Portuguese investigation was closed in 2008 and there have been repeated discussions between the British and Portuguese authorities with a view to reopening the inquiry. So far the Portuguese have refused to do so, saying concrete new evidence would be required. An investigation led by the Metropolitan police would allow detectives in the UK to interview suspects. The Metropolitan police is understood to have asked the Home Office to fund a full investigation. A development is likely within the next few weeks. Madeleine went missing from her parents' apartment in Praia da Luz in 2007 as her mother and father dined with friends at a nearby restaurant. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the Met police review, said last year his team had identified 195 potential leads. Scotland Yard also published an age-enhanced image of what Madeleine might look like today, aged nine, saying they had uncovered new information to suggest she could still be alive and living with her abductor.