Madeleine McCann 'died of sleeping pill overdose'*

By Lucy Bennett

September 14, 2007 09:34am
Article from: NEWS.com.au

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.

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.