KEY POINTS:
LONDON - Four-year-old Madeleine McCann from Rothley, Leicestershire, disappeared on May 3 during a holiday with her parents in the Algarve region of southern Portugal.
Here is a chronology of developments:
May 3 - The girl goes missing from her bedroom between 9.30 and 10 pm while
her parents Kate and Gerry are dining just 100 yards away at the Mark Warner Ocean Club holiday resort in Praia da Luz. A window and shutter are open and she is presumed to have been abducted.
May 4 - McCann family members and British media criticise local police for what they call a slow initial response, failure to take the disappearance seriously at first, failure to notify ports and borders in time, and failure to secure the crime scene, which may have led to vital clues being lost.
Police say that under Portuguese secrecy laws they are unable to reveal details of the investigation.
Speculation swirls that the kidnapper comes from Britain. One woman says she saw a suspicious character hanging around the holiday flats just a few days before.
May 5 - Police say they have put together a sketch of a suspect and confirm they believe Madeleine is still alive and being held within three miles of the crime scene. Media reports say the sketch is vague and only features the back of a man's head.
May 7 - Kate McCann makes an emotional appeal for her daughter's safe return.
May 8 - Police say they have investigated 350 suspicious incidents but still have no idea where she might be.
Portuguese newspaper Correio de Manha says Madeleine may have been kidnapped by a paedophile ring.
Two criminal behaviour experts fly in from Britain.
Manchester United's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo joins appeals for her release.
May 10 - The search around the resort winds down. Attention focuses on a blonde woman seen acting suspiciously before the girl's disappearance.
May 11 - Scottish businessman Stephen Winyard offers a one million pound reward.
Former England soccer captain David Beckham makes televised appeal for information.
May 12 - Madeleine turns four.
May 13 - Virgin boss Richard Branson, author J.K. Rowling and footballer Wayne Rooney are among those to have contributed to rewards now totalling 2.5 million pounds.
May 13 - Half a million pilgrims attending the 90th anniversary of the first appearance of the Virgin Mary at the Sanctuary of Fatima pray for Madeleine's return.
May 14 - Her parents say they will not return home until they have found her but say they think she is safe.
Police search a villa just up the road from where Madeleine was snatched and take a British man, Robert Murat, to a police station for questioning. He is later released.
May 15 - Police say they have identified a suspect but do not have enough evidence for an arrest.
Five properties have been searched in the area, and two other people questioned as witnesses.
May 16 - Deputy PM John Prescott, deputising for Prime Minister Tony Blair at Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, says the government is doing everything it can to support Madeleine's parents.
- REUTERS
