The police are investigating reports that a look-alike of Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who was abducted in Portugal almost two months ago, was spotted in Malta.
In-Nazzjon first reported yesterday that the police were investigating the case, after two people, probably tourists, reported that they had seen the girl in the Valletta area on Saturday.
Contacted by The Malta Independent, a spokesperson from the police corps’ Community and Media Relations Unit, confirmed that two people had reported that they had seen a girl who looked like the missing toddler. The police stopped short of giving details about where and when the girl was reported to have been seen.
The spokesperson could not give details whether or not the two people who reported the case knew each other or whether they were together when they saw the girl.
A magisterial inquiry into the case has started, the police said, adding that no further details could be given at this stage.
Madeleine, three, was kidnapped on the evening of 3 May, from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal, where her parents were staying with her and her two-year-old twin siblings.
The Portuguese police had come to the conclusion that the girl was in a bedroom with her siblings when she was abducted. Madeleine’s parents had put her and her siblings to bed and, leaving the apartment unlocked, had gone to dinner with friends less than 100 metres away.
Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry, who live in Leicestershire, UK, had reported to the police that they were taking turns checking on their children and that at about 9pm, the girl’s father checked on them, finding that they were all fine.
The couple returned at about 9.45pm, only to find an empty bed and the apartment door and window wide open. Staff and guests at the complex searched until 4.30am, while police on the Spanish border and all airports in Portugal and Spain were notified.
Since then, Mr and Mrs McCann have been relentless in their efforts seeking information about their daughter and the kidnappers.
Only yesterday, on the website www.findmadeleine.com, Mr McCann said: “Another busy day of meetings, this time in Leicester. No mishaps thankfully. The main meeting was that of Madeleine’s fund where we discussed implementing a strategy to maintain our campaign to find Madeleine.
“It was agreed in principle to appoint a family spokesperson who will act, not just for Kate and I, but also on behalf of the extended family who have been liaising with the media. This appointment will take a lot of strain off family members who have been putting in such massive efforts to help find Madeleine.”