London ( CNN ) -- UK officers have identified 38 `` people of interest '' in connection with the disappearance six years ago in Portugal of British toddler Madeleine McCann , the Metropolitan Police said Thursday . McCann disappeared while her family was on vacation on the Algarve coast in 2007 . She was a few days shy of her 4th birthday at the time she vanished from the family 's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz . UK officers who have spent two years reviewing the initial investigations into her disappearance have found `` new findings and new witness evidence , '' a police statement said . `` Our review has now progressed to a position where we have identified 38 persons of interest . '' Twelve of those are UK nationals who the police believe were in Portugal at the time the girl went missing . All the others are European nationals . Metropolitan Police officers are talking to authorities in other countries to get more information about them and their potential involvement , the statement said . `` We continue to believe that there is a possibility that Madeleine is alive , '' said Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood , who heads the team . `` It is a positive step in our hunt for Madeleine that our understanding of the evidence has enabled us to shift from review to investigation . '' The faces of some of America 's missing . CNN 's Richard Allen Greene contributed to this report .
UK police identify 38 `` people of interest '' in connection with Madeleine McCann 's vanishing . The 3-year-old disappeared in 2007 from her family 's holiday apartment in Portugal . UK police have been reviewing the evidence from the initial investigations . They are also looking at whether there is any new information that could help solve the case, and if so what it might be.