Claim: A four-year-old British girl named Madeleine McCann is missing from a Portuguese vacation resort.
Example: [Collected via e-mail, May 2007]
Dear all, I don't normally pass on chain emails but this is an exception. I have checked out the phone numbers and also added the info about the reward, in case this should help. Apologies to anyone to whom this is spam-like. Rewards totalling £2.5m have been offered to anyone who can help with information leading to the safe return of Madeleine McCann. The News of the World and businessmen including Sir Richard Branson have jointly pledged £1.5m. Scottish tycoon Stephen Winyard has offered £1m. 09 May 2007 HELP FIND MADELEINE McCANN If you have any information please call Portuguese Police direct on 00351 282 405 400 or call Crimestoppers in the UK on 0800 555 111. Or if calling from Portugal, please call: 44 1883 731 336.  Madeleine's Eye Holds Vital Clue Madeleine McCann's family believe a new picture of the missing four-year-old could play a vital role in the search for her. The new poster of MadeleineThe photo clearly shows her distinctive right eye, where the pupil runs into the blue-green iris. It is this distinguishing mark that will identify Madeleine to those on the lookout for her, according to aunt and uncle John and Diane McCann.   |
Origins: Madeleine McCann, a four-year-old British girl, disappeared from a Portuguese vacation resort on
two-year-old twin brother and sister were sound asleep in cots on either side of her. Madeleine, who was born by IVF treatment, disappeared from the family's ground-floor holiday apartment at the 'family friendly' Mark Warner holiday complex in the Praia da Luz resort as her parents ate at a tapas restaurant close by. The child's aunt, Trish Cameron, yesterday described the frantic telephone call she received after the couple discovered their daughter was missing around ten o'clock on Thursday night. "It was my young brother Gerry distraught on the phone, breaking his heart. He said: 'Madeleine's been abducted, she's been abducted'. "They kept going back to check the kids every half hour. The restaurant was only Kate then went over to the two-bedroom ground-floor apartment and 'came out screaming', said
Kate [McCann] and her husband Gerry, a consultant cardiologist, have told family and friends they suspect their daughter was snatched while her
A number of prominent business figures and celebrities, including Richard Branson,
In September 2007, Portuguese police began requestioning Madeleine's parents, leading to speculation that the parents themselves are suspected of having been involved in her disappearance.
Additional information about the case is available on the Internet at findmadeleine.com.
Last updated: 7 September 2007
Sources: