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Madeleine 'sighting' investigated | Madeleine 'sighting' investigated |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Police in Belgium say they are taking seriously a possible sighting of a girl fitting the description of missing Madeleine McCann. | Police in Belgium say they are taking seriously a possible sighting of a girl fitting the description of missing Madeleine McCann. |
Detectives have issued a sketch of a Dutch man and an English woman seen with the girl in a restaurant in Tongeren on the Dutch border. | |
The news comes exactly three months since the four-year-old was abducted from a holiday complex in the Algarve. | The news comes exactly three months since the four-year-old was abducted from a holiday complex in the Algarve. |
Her parents, Kate and Gerry, are in Spain to highlight their search. | Her parents, Kate and Gerry, are in Spain to highlight their search. |
Car traced | |
A Belgian police spokeswoman said the witness was "trusted" and "100% sure" the girl she saw was Madeleine. | |
"She works with children and noticed something unusual, that is why we are taking it seriously," the spokeswoman added. | |
She said that because of her work as a child therapist she had noticed that the people's behaviour was not that of normal parents Jolien Houbrech | |
"She said the woman spoke English and the man was Dutch. She said they were acting strangely, but I don't know why." | |
Checks were also being carried out on the number plate from the couple's car, a Volvo station wagon, the spokeswoman said. | |
The news follows a number of other reported sightings across Europe of a child resembling Madeleine since she disappeared in May. | |
Customer concerns | |
Student Jolien Houbrech, 21, who works as waitress at the east Belgian town's De Pauze restaurant said she had served the couple and the girl on Saturday. | |
Police had removed the girl's drink and taken it away for forensic tests, she said. | |
She described the child as aged five or six with long blonde hair. | |
Miss Houbrech said she did not have suspicions about the couple until another customer had alerted her to the girl's resemblance to Madeleine. | |
All we want is to be re-united with Madeleine and to be a happy family once again Kate McCann | |
"She said that because of her work as a child therapist she had noticed that the people's behaviour was not that of normal parents," Miss Houbrech said. | |
"After she said that, I said maybe she should call it in to the police." | |
The couple left before the customer raised her concerns, Miss Houbrech added. | |
Police said results from DNA tests on the drinks bottle removed from the restaurant were expected next week. | |
Spain trip | |
Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, are travelling from Praia da Luz in Portugal, where they are based during their search, to Huelva, the capital of Andalucia. | |
They are planning to put up posters of their daughter across the city. | |
The couple were staying at an apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve, when Madeleine vanished on 3 May. | |
Mrs McCann said she wanted to remind people that her daughter was still missing. | |
"Today will mark three months since she was cruelly snatched from her bed," she said. | |
"We do not know where she is, or where she has been taken, but would urge tourists and residents in Portugal and Spain to keep looking for Madeleine. | |
"All we want is to be re-united with Madeleine and to be a happy family once again." | |
The couple are urging people with any information about Madeleine's whereabouts to contact police. | |
They can call international Crimestoppers on 0044 18 83 73 13 36, Crimestoppers in the UK on 0800 555 111 or Portuguese police on 00351 282 405 400. |