Madeleine McCann – Fresh sightings and photographs in Southern Europe

Local sightings supported by photographic images are now in the hands of the local police

Article by Alec Simpson

Monday 25th June 2007, 19:09

Police are tonight investigating fresh claims that the missing 4 year old Madeleine McCann has been seen in Malta boarding a boat with an Arab family.

The boat, a private yacht, set sail shortly afterwards and there were multiple sightings and some were so convinced it was the missing child that they approached the family but were blocked from getting any closer by security guards.

Images of the sighting were handed to police and all ports in the region are being monitored and special services have been dispatched in the region. Portuguese security officials today commented and said “It is a distinct possibility that Madeleine has been held captive on a vessel like the one seen here in Malta today and so we are very keen to track this boat very quickly”.

Madeleine McCann has been missing since the first week of May and recently there have been several sightings by multiple tourists in Malta and police are said to be probing the claims.

However Gerry and Kate McCann said they are not giving any credence to the claims at this point and are focusing on events to boost awareness of her disappearance, according to a spokeswoman for the parents.

Madeleine McCann was kidnapped from a vacation apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal.

There are a myriad of islands that make up the entire population of Malta, it is a small and densely populated island nation. A country of Southern Europe, Malta lies south of Sicily, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya and is a well known route into the Middle East.

The newspaper In-Nazzjon reported on Thursday that the police received two reports saying that they saw a blonde girl who looked just like the four-year-old in Valletta last Saturday.

Maltese Police are said to be currently investigating the alleged sightings. They reportedly told Police that the young girl they saw looked remarkably similar to the missing young British girl.

Superintendent Pierre Calleja of the Maltese CID said: "On June 17, 2026 the Malta police were in receipt of a report of a sighting of a girl who resembled Madeleine McCann who was abducted in Portugal on May 3, 2007.

"Subsequent to this report, a full scale police investigation and a magisterial inquiry were initiated.

"These investigations are actively in progress and all possible avenues are being pursued."

Mr Roberts said the girl he saw was taken away by a man in his 40s and a younger woman.

"It was obviously not his first language so it seemed odd that he had to speak to her in English," he said.

"As a father, their reaction did not seem natural."

He added: "Then I noticed the little girl's hair.

"It was pitch black, very thick and cut in an unusual style for a child that age - very much like a wig rather than real hair.

"The more I think about what I saw the more convinced I become that it may well have been Maddie.

"The oddness of it all played out in my mind until I got home then I realised I had to do something."

The McCann’s lead a balloon release in up to 50 countries to mark the 50th day of their daughter's disappearance last week.

The two doctors, from Rothley in Leicestershire, will release 50 yellow helium-filled balloons on the beach at the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was staying when she was abducted.

Numerous similar events have been organised across the UK, as well as in countries including Ireland, Argentina, the United States, Singapore, Australia - and even Afghanistan, where people will race kites emblazoned with pictures of Madeleine.

In California, campaign-followers will release 50 white doves in her name.

Balloons will feature pictures of the youngster and the yellow ribbons that have become a mascot of the campaign to find her.

In an interview to mark the 50th day since Madeleine's disappearance, recorded before the reported sightings of her on Malta, Mr McCann vowed to continue the search for his daughter.

He told the BBC World Service Outlook programme that the campaign to find her had helped the family cope.

"We are trying to stay focused and looking forward, and very much putting our energies into helping the search for Madeleine. That does help us to cope," he said.

"There is a huge amount of information there, and the message we are sending out - the overriding message - is clearly 'Madeleine is still missing'. And as long as she is missing we will continue searching for her."

He spoke about coping with the intense media interest, saying: "It hasn't been nearly as intrusive as one might expect it to have been. And they have largely respected our privacy, with one or two quite minor exceptions."

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