In a potential breakthrough in the 12-year investigation, a "new clue and suspect" emerged in talks with Scotland Yard, according to a Portuguese newspaper. However, her parents have said they are "not getting their hopes up" while they await the outcome of the latest lead. Madeleine, three, was snatched from the family's Algarve holiday apartment in May 2007. A family friend said: "They have had their hopes raised and then dashed many times in the past so they are not getting buoyed up by any fresh developments. It's too devastating when nothing comes of it." The newspaper claims police are working on a tip-off about a "foreign" man who was in the Praia da Luz area at the time. Fresh inquiries were launched after a meeting with Portuguese officers and Operation Grange detectives from Scotland Yard,
