The blonde blue-eyed
girl 'whom Belgian police described as looking 'very similar to
Madeleine is a member of a Flemish family. She was out walking
with her Moroccan nanny.
Hopes were raised that Madeleine was alive and being held captive
after a security guard told police he had seen the youngster outside
the KBC bank in the Molenbeek St Jean district of Brussels.
Images on the bank's CCTV cameras prompted further speculation that
the youngster, who was with a pregnant woman, could be the McCann's
daughter who vanished from Praia da Luz, in Portugal on May 3 last
year.
But the girl's father contacted the Belgian authorities on Monday
afternoon after he was alerted to the missing persons investigation
by a Daily Express appeal.
|
The
girl's father came forward yesterday to say that the
girl was his daughter
|
Belgian State Prosecutor
Lieve Pellens |
Belgian State Prosecutor Lieve
Pellens told the Daily Express: 'The girl's father came forward
yesterday to say that the girl was his daughter.
?He saw this picture and obviously for him it was very easy
recognising the girl accompanied by a woman in a veil.
'It's her nanny' she is a young Moroccan woman who is qualified to
look after children and works in a care centre.
?Detectives from the Belgian Missing Persons Unit went to visit the
family at their home to check everything out.?
Yesterday Clarence Mitchell, the McCann's official spokesman, said
that although Kate and Gerry were disappointed, the hunt for missing
Madeleine would continue
There have been over 130
'sightings' of Madeleine in Belgium with 30 leads in the past week.
Authorities vow to investigate them all.
