Could the girl in this picture be Madeleine McCann? Daily MailA photograph of a small girl with striking facial similarities to Madeleine McCann in the clutches of a group of Moroccans was being studied by Interpol detectives last night.
The grainy image, taken only four weeks ago, shows a blonde youngster being carried on the back of a dark-skinned woman in traditional North African dress with companions carrying their worldly possessions along a dusty roadside near Tangiers.
It is the fourth reported sighting of Madeleine in Morocco, the first two having come only six days after she disappeared. Her anguished parents last night insisted they would not raise their hopes until forensic analysis had strengthened or ruled out suspicions that it could be her.
But their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "They are aware of the picture and are very interested in it." The picture was emailed to them and they spent several minutes studying it. Privately the couple are understood to think it could be her, but the poor quality of the image has meant they simply cannot say with any certainty.
The existence of the picture was revealed on a Spanish radio station by the woman who took it near the northern town of Zinat, just south of Tangiers, on August 31. Spaniard Clara Torres and her partner spotted the likeness after taking what they thought would simply be a colourful shot of Moroccan life.
They were immediately suspicious that a blonde, pale-skinned, European-looking child should be with the group of wanderers. When they heard about other sightings in Morocco they emailed it to the Spanish national police, who forwarded it to Interpol.
It will be analysed by experts, possibly from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre who have used state- of-the-art facial recognition computer software to study thousands of pictures sent in by holidaymakers who were in Praia da Luz when Madeleine vanished on May 3.
Mrs Torres told the Spanish radio station COPE: "I was with my family and my partner. I was taking photos of everything we saw, and we saw a group of people and took a photo. "As soon as I took the photo wewere struck by the little girl, who was very blonde.
"The truth is we said the name of the girl, but we couldn't believe it could be her, it was just impossible that it was her. "Once that had happened, we arrived back in Spain. We downloaded the card of photographs onto our computer.
"Then yesterday we heard on the news that there were various people who said they had seen Madeleine in Morocco. "I ran to the computer, downloaded the photos and started to amplify the photo and when we saw it we realised yes, it could be her. It sent shivers down my spine."
Mrs Torres said they called their local police in Albacete, near Valencia, who came and took copies. She said she went to the British embassy yesterday and spoke to the McCann family's legal team. "We spoke to the family's lawyer. Although it's not 100 per cent certain, there's a strong possibility it could be Madeleine." The first reported sighting in Morocco was by Norwegian tourist Mari Pollard, who said she saw a girl who looked like Madeleine with a man at petrol station in Marrakesh on May 9.
A British holidaymaker later reported seeing a youngster with a strong likeness on the same day outside the Ibis Hotel in Marrakesh, which is virtually opposite the garage. The third sighting came around three weeks later when a Spanish woman contacted Portuguese police to say she had seen someone she thought looked like the missing girl in Zaio, in the north of Morocco.
She said she saw a "sad and scared" blonde girl being dragged across a street by a woman in a Muslim headscarf. She told how she and her husband were driving when the Muslim woman walked out into the road in front of them, "walking very fast and dragging a young blonde girl with her".
"I saw her face very clearly from close up and I know it was Madeleine," she said. "She looked very sad and scared, and was wearinga skirt and a sleeveless top and her blonde hair tied up." The woman, who refuses to be named, called police from her home in Melilla that night.
Detectives are said to have dismissed the sighting saying they believed she was already dead. Kate and Gerry McCann believe Portuguese police have virtually given up the hunt to find their daughter. The couple have brought in private investigators to search for any trace of her.
But senior police and judicial figures have now warned that the McCanns and their team of ex-SAS advisers could face prosecution if they interfere. In Portugal private detectives are banned from working on criminal investigations by obstruction of justice laws.
A Policia Judiciaria official said: "If they come here they will be running a serious risk of being arrested." Anjos, head of the Portuguese police federation, said the investigators were part of "another McCann strategy" to divert attention away from themselves.
"This can only be another diversion tactic from the McCanns." Possible sightings have come in from all over the world in the months since Madeleine vanished, including Belgium, Malta and Australia.
The McCanns, both 39, travelled to Morocco in June to appeal for help in the hunt to find Madeleine. Mrs McCann has told friends she believes there is a strong chance her daughter could have been taken into Africa, which is easily reached from Portugal and Spain.
Mr McCann's brother John said of the latest Moroccan sighting: "We hope the Portuguese police will investigate this and that it will prove more profitable than their current line of inquiry." Jose Herrero Arcas, the Spanish government's representative in Albacete, said: "The national police received a photograph by email taken by a young Spanish couple who believe it shows Madeleine McCann.
"The quality of the photograph is not very clear, and it was taken from around 200 metres away. "However, the national police are taking the claim seriously enough to have sent it on to their colleagues at Interpol."
• Friends of the McCanns faced fresh allegations yesterday after it was claimed that sniffer dogs had found the 'scent of death' on one of them.
The same police dog which reacted to Mrs McCann's clothes - first causing suspicion to fall on her - was alleged to have smelled 'death' on one of the friends who had dinner with the couple the night Madeleine vanished. Police sources briefed a Portuguese newspaper that two police dogs from South Yorkshire, trained to detect corpses, human remains and microscopic traces of blood, had reacted to some items of clothing.
Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell denied categorically that any such procedure had happened. Detectives are writing to British police asking them to re-interview the seven friends. The newspaper did not reveal which of the friends' clothing was meant to have triggered the reaction. Police in South Yorkshire refused to comment."
Ik zag de maakster Clara Torres van de foto net op BBC-news en ze kwam best wel betrouwbaar over eigenlijk. Ik was nog niet echt wakker maar volgens mij zei ze dat de foto vanuit de auto is genomen, vandaar de onscherpte.En een snipper uit de
telegraph.co.ukMeanwhile, a senior Portuguese judge warned that Mr and Mrs McCann could be charged with obstructing justice after it emerged they had hired private investigators to help find their daughter.Under Portuguese law, it is illegal to carry out independent inquiries into a case while a police investigation is ongoing.
Mr and Mrs McCann have been in close contact with Control Risks Group, which specialises in kidnap, hostage and crisis management, since the end of May.A source close to the couple's legal team insisted the company was only working in an advisory role and not present on the ground in Portugal. Control Risks, and other independent private investigators, are thought to be focusing on Spain and Morocco.Antonio Martins, president of the Association of Portuguese Judges, said private investigators were not legally recognised. He said the investigators and even the McCanns themselves could be accused of the "obstructing of justice".
@ tnx Moussie.
quote:
Ik zag het, spooky hoor.
Yep, toch goed gehoord net op de BBC, foto is genomen vanuit de auto: "It was taken from a car window by a Spanish couple in Zinzat, in the north of the African country on August 31." Daily Express[ Bericht 0% gewijzigd door Suko op 26-09-2007 09:08:47 ]