The four-year-old missing British girl Madeleine McCann may have died after consuming “a significant quantity “ of sleeping pills, a French newspaper claimed Friday.

The daily France Soir said “hard evidence” proved that bodily fluids found in the car hired by Kate and Gerry McCann revealed that Madeleine died of an overdose of sleeping tablets.

But the report is contradicted by most experts, who said tests haven’t revealed an exact match with Madeleine’s DNA and toxicological analysis are irrelevant in that case.

The toddler’s parents rejected the allegations, saying they are “ludicrous” speculations and “there is no evidence to suggest that Madeleine is dead.”

“We are 100 per cent together on this, not one grain of suspicion about each other… There are large craters in every one of these theories, in these just ludicrous accusations,” Gerry McCann said.

A Portuguese newspaper said investigators are intending to call in Kate McCann for a new round of questioning, after the mother allegedly refused to answer to dozens of questions last week.

Both Kate and her husband have been declared formal suspects by the police, after several clues reportedly indicate that the couple “accidentally killed” their daughter and disposed of the body.

The four-year-old has been reported missing on May 3 from a hotel room in Praia da Luz, on the Algarve.

After facing questioning in Portugal for several hours, the couple returned to England on Sunday and retired to their home in Rothley, Leicestershire. It seems that social workers paid a visit to the McCann residence, authorities saying that was a “routine procedure” in such cases.

Madeleine has a brother and a sister, two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, which could be taken into care by the social services if the McCanns would have to face a trial.

Portuguese police received a copy of Kate’s diary and focused on some words the 39-year-old mother wrote. She allegedly said that Madeleine’s “excess of activity” has warn her out, but the couple refused to “comment on speculations.”

The parents are supported by their friends, who said Portuguese authorities have turned them into “scapegoats” in order to divert attention for their lack of efficiency. Several friends told a British tabloid, the Evening Standard, that Robert Murat “lied about where he was on the night of Madeleine's disappearance.”

The British man living in Praia da Luz has been initially declared a suspect, but after a period the investigators directed their efforts to other leads instead of thoroughly analyzing his statements, the friends told the tabloid.