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Friday, November 20, 2009

Parents Of World-Famous Missing Child Release Picture Of Possible Suspect

2008/01/21 | CityNews.ca Staff

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Parents Of World-Famous Missing Child Release Picture Of Possible Suspect

He's a grizzled looking man with a long moustache and hair to match.

And he may be responsible for one of last year's most infamous crimes.

The family of Madeleine McCann has released sketches of a male seen near the area where the little girl disappeared last May. The four-year-old vanished from her hotel room at a Portuguese resort, after her parents went to a nearby restaurant for a quick dinner. She hasn't been seen since and there's been endless speculation about her fate.

Some believe she was taken by a sexual predator and killed, others that she was sold into a child slavery ring. And authorities in Portugal seemed to be zeroing in on her parents. The new clues are supposed to be of a suspicious man seen lurking near the inn at the Praia de Luz complex that night. Witnesses recall seeing a man carrying a child that evening, and the family hopes putting out a more detailed drawing of what he  looked like could spark a long dormant memory in someone who was there.

"We believe this man could be linked to Madeleine's disappearance," family spokesman Clarence Mitchell explains. "If he is innocent we want him to come forward for his own sake so he can be ruled out."

Madeleine's parents have since returned to their native Britain, as the cloud of suspicion around them continues. A website detailing all the clues - including several new sketches of the mystery man - remains up and running. Find it here.

The chances of solving this case get more remote as the months wear on, but the youngster's parents vow they will never give up. So far, no one has been charged in the abduction.