08/05/2007

Concern over missing toddler

Portuguese police are continuing to search for a toddler from Leicester feared to have been abducted while on holiday.

Police have broadened their search to an area nine miles around the apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve where the three-year-old girl, Madeleine McCann, was last seen.

Her mother Kate made a statement to the press appealing for her daughter's safe return.

With her husband at her side she told reporters: "Please do not scare her. Please let us know where to find Madeleine or put her in a place of safety."

Mrs McCann said: "Madeleine is a beautiful, bright, funny and caring little girl. She is so special. Please, please, do not hurt her."

It is reported that the couple had returned to their room to check on their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie and three-year-old daughter to discover the older girl was missing from the apartment. The outside shutter and window was open.

Police said that they believed Madeleine had been abducted and are investigating reports that a man was seen with a small child in the area.

(SP/JM)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

14 October 2013
E-Fit Images Released Of Madeline McCann Suspect
The Metropolitan Police investigating the abduction of a three-year-old British girl called Madeleine McCann from an apartment in the Portuguese Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on the 3rd May 2007, have released two e-fit images of a man who is of vital importance in the case.
07 August 2007
McCanns Insist 'Madeleine Is Still Alive'
The parents of missing British girl Madeleine McCann have said that they believe their daughter will be found alive. Madeleine's father Gerry McCann told reporters that he and his wife Kate were "not naive" but said that Portuguese police had assured them that they were looking for the four-year-old alive.
22 June 2007
Malta sightings investigated in hunt for Madeleine
Police in Malta are investigating possible sightings of missing British girl Madeleine McCann. According to reports, a number of British tourists have reported seeing a child who resembled the missing four-year-old in the island's capital Valletta and the resort of Sliema.
10 May 2007
Fresh clues in Madeleine disappearance
Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal are following up four new pieces of information, it has been reported. It is understood that the clues came from hundreds of calls received by a special UK telephone line set up by Crimestoppers.
10 July 2007
Suspect quizzed again in Madeleine case
Police are questioning the only suspect named in the inquiry surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann for the third time. Expatriate Briton Robert Murat, 33, is being questioned at a police station in the Algarve. Mr Murat was living a short distance from the apartment from which the four-year-old girl vanished.