Lisbon,Portugal: 

Missing: Madeleine McCann. pic/ap

Portugal's attorney general ordered police yesterday to halt their investigation into the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann because detectives uncovered no evidence of a crime during their 14-month probe.

The case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges, Attorney-General Fernando Pinto Monteiro's office said in a statement. Detectives found no reason to charge any of the three people named as suspects: Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry and local man Robert Murat. All three denied involvement.

After the announcement, the McCanns said being named suspects in the case had damaged the search. Her disappearance in May 2007 had attracted global media attention.