Portuguese police may gag Madeleine McCann's parents by keeping them suspects for the next 15 years.

The grim warning comes as the Mirror publishes the first picture of the bedroom from where Madeleine, four, vanished six months ago.

It is feared detectives may wind down the probe without formally clearing Gerry and Kate McCann or first suspect expat property developer Robert Murat, 33.

As long as all three remain arguidos - formal suspects - they cannot comment on the harrowing case.

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That means details of the McCanns' ordeal and of a string of police blunders could remain secret until the tragedy is all but forgotten.

Murat's lawyer Francisco Pagarete said: "In Portugal a suspect can remain as such for 15 years without any need for police to reapply or extend the status.

"It's possible police think it would be better if the suspects stayed that way so they cannot talk about what has happened to them.

"That could happen in this case. It's a big worry for my client and it applies to the McCanns as well."

The picture of Madeleine's room inside apartment 5A at the Ocean Club, in Praia da Luz, was taken through the front window.

It is the same window through which Kate and Gerry believe Madeleine's kidnapper escaped.

The room is believed to be as it was when the youngster vanished. Vital clues were lost because it was not sealed off. It is no longer a crime scene.

Madeleine's bed is pushed against the wall. Her twin siblings Sean and Amelie, two, were sleeping in cots.

Gerry would have had his last sight of his daughter through the open door in the rear of the room when he checked on the children at 9.05pm on May 3.

As the hunt for Madeleine continues, private eyes are probing a claimed sighting of her in Medjugorje, near Mostar, Bosnia, 10 days ago.

An Ulsterman believes he saw her with a couple. The girl said "I want my daddy" before she was driven off.

Kate and Gerry face cruel criticism in the first book on the case, Maddie 129, by two Portuguese journalists.

The authors blast the couple's actions after Madeleine vanished and claim their friends were in bed within two hours.

Kate and Gerry, both 39, attended Remembrance Day prayers at Rothley, Leics.