Portuguese authorities will continue to investigate Madeleine McCann’s disappearance despite Scotland Yard winding up its probe.
Its Attorney General’s office allayed fears, saying of their inquiry, being led by Algarve prosecutors: “It continues.”
And police sources said closing the cold case is “out of the question”.
It was reported last month the Met’s Operation Grange, launched four years after Madeleine vanished in Praia da Luz on May 3 2007, would wind down in autumn.
The move has been linked to the feeling that German authorities have insufficient evidence to bring a case against the prime suspect Christian Brueckner.
Sources close to the inquiry in Portugal confirmed that it had been a “long time” since the last British request for information.
One said: “Only the German authorities have been sending formal requests for judicial assistance of late.”
There are also fears that the chance to get justice for Madeleine and her parents Kate and Gerry, of Leicestershire, could be dealt a hammer blow next month.
That is when the country’s 15-year limit on prosecutions will run out. Portuguese legal experts have admitted the chances of putting anyone behind bars after that would be “greatly reduced”.
It is believed Brueckner, behind bars in Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old tourist, would have to be made a formal suspect in Portugal before May 3 to facilitate his prosecution.
He could though still be prosecuted by the Germans if enough evidence is uncovered.
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