PORTUGAL: Portuguese police investigating abduction of British girl Madeleine McCann seal off and begin thorough search of a villa close to apartment where she was taken from

Record ID: 862381

  • Title: PORTUGAL: Portuguese police investigating abduction of British girl Madeleine McCann seal off and begin thorough search of a villa close to apartment where she was taken from
  • Date: 15th May 2007
  • Summary: SOMEONE HOLDING A BRITISH NEWSPAPER "THE DAILY MAIL"
  • Embargoed: 30th May 2007 13:00
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  • Location: Portugal
  • City:
  • Country: Portugal
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  • Reuters ID: LVA9SKU0YVEXNTCGRKA5JOM5Z6W8
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  • Story Text: Portuguese police investigating the abduction of British girl Madeleine McCann seal off and begin a thorough search of a villa close to the apartment where she was taken from.
    Portuguese police on Monday (May 14) searched a villa close to the holiday apartment from where four-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann was snatched and took a British man to a police station for questioning, local television have reported.
    Local broadcaster SIC Noticias said a member of the family at the villa often spoke to reporters and had said Madeleine looked like his daughter in England.
    Police sealed the villa for forensic tests, SIC Noticias said. The man is said to have helped Portuguese police and had acted as a translator.
    The search took place as the parents of the girl kidnapped 11 days ago said they remained positive their daughter was safe and vowed to keep up the search for her.
    The McCanns have praised the Portuguese police for their work and thanked people for the widespread support they had received.
    While Portuguese police continued their search of the villa, British Ambassador to Portugal, John Buck, praised the police work.
    "There are clearly impressive resources being devoted to this investigation, those resources are rightly primarily Portuguese. But we also have a number of British police officers working with Portuguese colleagues closely here in the Algarve." Buck said.
    "When I spoke to the chief investigating officer today, he said that the collaboration between the Portuguese and British police was truly exceptional," he added.
    Celebrity donations have pushed up the reward offered for Madeleine's safe return to 2.6 million pounds ($5.14 million).
    Harry Potter author JK Rowling, tycoons Sir Philip Green and Sir Richard Branson, Wayne Rooney and Simon Cowell have all contributed and a special fighting fund is being set up.
    On Sunday (May 13) Portugal's leading investigator, Olegario Sousa, said some potential leads had been eliminated, but there have been no arrests in connection with Madeleine's abduction.
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