Madeleine: Separating Fact And Fiction
So the McCanns are in the clear. Haven't you heard? It's true - it was on the front page of a national newspaper. It said the DNA evidence was found to be inconclusive.
What? You read something completely different? Oh yes, on the same day another newspaper splashed on how new DNA tests had proved the parents were involved.
It is another typical day in the Madeleine McCann story. Not much actually happens, but thousands of words are written by reporters, and thousands more by people on websites reacting to the latest stories.
Clarence Mitchell has a telephone that never stops ringing. He is the McCanns' official spokesman and in the course of one hour with me in a coffee shop he spent more than half of it dealing with phone calls from British, Spanish and Portuguese journalists checking out the latest rumours.
Here is a selection of the questions that Mr Mitchell has dealt with in the past week:
The Body Locator: A South African man who claims to be able to trace bodies using samples of DNA was called in to help. This is true, though it happened several weeks ago but was not reported at the time. Daniel Kruger had contacted Gerry and Kate McCann to offer his services, and because he presented some evidence to make his track record appear to be credible, they said yes.
Working in conjunction with the Portuguese Judicial Police, and before the McCanns themselves became official suspects, a location in Luz was searched, and nothing was found.
The Psychic Barber: There has still been no contact between the McCanns and a Glaswegian psychic called Gordon Smith who says he might be able to help.
Kate Is Ill And Losing Weight: Yes, Kate McCann has lost some weight because of the stress of the past five months, but she is eating regularly, and is not sick.
The McCanns Are About To Return To Portugal: They have no plans to do so at the moment, but have not ruled out going back of their own accord to continue to publicise Madeleine's disappearance and urge people to keep looking for her.
British Police Say Madeleine Is Dead: No they do not, at least not officially. A Portuguese newspaper claimed a source had told them this, but Leicestershire Police issued a denial.
Campaign Manager Sacked: Justine McGuinness ran the Find Madeleine Campaign for three months. She was not fired, but her short-term contract was not renewed because the McCanns needed someone better at dealing with the huge international media interest.
After she left she submitted a bill for £51,000, including £20,000 for overtime and expenses. Mr Mitchell would only say it was being dealt with by the trustees of the Fund. More than £1m was donated by supporters in the five months since Madeleine vanished.
And finally, back to the claims of new DNA evidence. Sky sources say that the Forensic Science Service is still working on samples collected from the McCanns hire car.
"We have said before that Kate and Gerry have nothing to hide and any material which may have been found can be wholly and innocently explained," Clarence Mitchell said.
"They want their Arguido status to be lifted as soon as possible and are confident it will happen in due course."
There are certain to be further "updates" in the coming days. Some will be true, some not. At Sky News we will continue to do our best to separate fact from fiction.
Sky
