Madeleine McCann search: Police release e

Police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance have released two e-fits of a man they want to speak to as a matter of 'vital importance'.

The images are based on evidence from two witnesses who saw him on the night the three-year-old, from Rothley, Leicestershire, went missing.

They will feature in a BBC Crimewatch appeal later over her disappearance on 3 May 2007 in Praia da Luz, Algarve.

Police stressed he 'may or may not be key' but had been placed in the area.

The witnesses said the man was white, 20 to 40 years old and of medium build. He had short brown hair, was clean-shaven and of medium height, they added.

'Start Quote

This is far from our only line of inquiry and there will be e-fits released of other sightings as well, who we are equally keen to trace'

End Quote Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood

Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood, the senior Metropolitan Police investigating officer, said identifying the man was very important.

'Whilst this man may or may not be the key to unlocking this investigation, tracing and speaking to him is of vital importance to us,' he said.

'We have witnesses placing him in the resort area around the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

'This is far from our only line of inquiry and there will be e-fits released of other sightings as well, who we are equally keen to trace.

'These people were seen on the day of Madeleine's disappearance and the days leading up to it.'

Madeleine went missing from a holiday flat in Praia da Luz as her parents dined with friends at a nearby restaurant.

A Portuguese investigation into the case was dropped in 2008, but Scotland Yard began a review of the case in May 2011.

On Sunday the Met said the timeline and 'accepted version of events' surrounding Madeleine's disappearance had significantly changed, without giving further details.

Overseas appeals

A detailed reconstruction lasting close to 25 minutes and covering events leading up to and surrounding Madeleine's disappearance will also feature on Monday's Crimewatch.

A short clip released in advance by police shows actors playing Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, leaving their holiday apartment for the nearby tapas restaurant.

They are then seen seated outdoors at a large poolside table, greeting friends as they come to join them for dinner.

Speaking about the review-turned-investigation, DCI Redwood said detectives had been able to 'make massive steps forward' by drawing together all the material gathered to date and reviewing it as a whole.

He said his team had sought to 'try and draw everything back to zero... take everything back to the beginning and then reanalyse and reassess everything, accepting nothing'.

He added: 'Praia da Luz is a popular holiday destination for many nationalities so our requests for help need to be repeated in many different countries.'

He said he would travel to the Netherlands, Germany and Ireland to seek public support there, and would repeat the appeals in Portugal - 'a key country for us to trace any outstanding witnesses'.

He went on to urge anyone, including from the local community, who was in or around Praia da Luz on Thursday, 3 May 2007, to speak to police if they had not already done so.

'We still have a lot of material to investigate and much work to do,' he added.

Mr and Mrs McCann are expected to make a live appeal from the studio during the programme.

Ahead of its broadcast, Mrs McCann said: 'We're not the ones that have done something wrong here.

'It's the person who's gone into that apartment and taken a little girl away from her family.'

The Crimewatch appeal will be shown in the UK on BBC One on Monday from 2100 BST. It will also be broadcast in the Netherlands and Germany.