Scotland Yard mum on reason for Maddy McCann push

(CBS News) There may be new hope in the long search for little Madeleine McCann.

She disappeared almost five years ago from her hotel room while vacationing with her family in Portugal.

She was only four when she vanished, but this week, Scotland Yard released a new photo of how she'd look today - at nine years old.

Officials there say they believe she could still be alive. And they're are asking law enforcement officials in Portugal to re-open the case.

British police has been in close contact with Maddy's family, and say they have almost 200 possible leads.

Casey Jordan, an attorney and a professor of law and justice at Western Connecticut State University, in Danbury, has followed the case closely since Maddy vanished.

"We know, from the handful of success stories," she told "CBS This Morning: Saturday" co-hosts Jeff Glor and Rebecca Jarvis, "that keeping the story in the news is imperative. It's extremely rare, but there are Jaycee Dugards, there are Elizabeth Smarts, and because hope really does spring eternal in the hearts of the parents, they (Scotland Yard) are very emphatic about making sure we get this age-progression photo out there, just in case somebody sees her."

Along with the photo, Scotland Yard issued a statement saying, "As a result of evidence uncovered during the review, (detectives) now believe there is a possibility Madeleine is still alive."

And Jordan pointed out, "This the concern, is that they are not articulating what that evidence is. They're simply saying they've looked at it, they've put a lot of time and resources into this at the pressure of Madeleine's parents. Now, again, nothing's wrong with this. But it does raise the question, is it just a rhetorical statement? Because what(ever) the final solution is, (Scotland Yard is saying) that, because we don't have her and because we've never recovered a body, she could still be alive. But other than that, they have no evidence they're letting us know about to explain their thought process. And I think that's why Portuguese officials are cynical and they're not so eager to reopen the case."

To see the entire interview, click on the video in the player above.