British couple tried to 'rescue' Maddy lookalike... from a Croatian football star and his model wife

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	MAIL MONDAY 18 AUGUST 2008
	By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 3:14 PM on 18th August 2008

When two British tourists spotted a woman leading a child with long blonde hair on the Croatian holiday island of Krk, they immediately thought it was Madeleine McCann.

The couple became even more convinced that the youngster was the missing Briton after secretly taking a couple of photographs.

So when the adult leading the child was not looking, the British woman grabbed the youngster's arm.

Father and son: Footballer Dino Drpic with son Leone

It was only then that she realised the child not only wasn't Madeleine, it wasn't even a little girl.

To make matters worse, the boy's father is a famous Croatian footballer and his mother - who was with him at the time - is a renowned glamour model.

Dino Drpic, who is a defender for Dinamo Zagreb and has several international caps, and his wife Nives are the Posh and Becks of Croatia.

Their son Leone has long blond hair like Madeleine's, but the similarity ends there - he is even six months younger than the missing three-year-old.


Mistaken identity: Croatian model Nives Drpic and Madeleine McCann

Today Nives told of the moment that the British couple mistakenly attempted to make off with their little boy.

She said: 'I started getting suspicious when the British woman approached Leone and started chatting with him.

'Suddenly she grabbed him by the arm, apparently thinking nobody was watching him.

'However, when I went over she realised her mistake and apologised.'

Nives said she was used to people staring and taking photographs of her because she and her husband are famous in Croatia.

The British couple have not been named.

Madeleine was three when she disappeared during a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 last year.

Since then there have been false sightings as far apart as Morocco, Belgium, Chile and Venezuela.

Comments (33)

Those who keep repeating the mantra 'Madeleine is alive and unhamed so please keep your eyes open at all times' should be made accountable for this hysteria. They were quite lucky this happened with such an understanding mother. If something like that happened to me, that turist would have a hard time forgetting her encounter with me.

- Cl?dia, Portugal, 18/8/2008 14:01

There is a moral here; make sure your son has a decent haircut rather than cursing him with ghastly, girly locks that he will resent you for forever.

- rachael, ipswich, 18/8/2008 14:31

So much for the self-acclaimed Hercule Poirots ...

- Mike, London, 18/8/2008 14:31

When will this hysteria stop?
People are so determined to see Madeleine that they are convincing themselves that children who don?t look like her are her!
Thank goodness this BOY has understanding parents!

- diddy, germany, 18/8/2008 14:35

Better to be wrong and apologise than to wonder, what if........well done!

- A.N., Milton Keynes, UK, 18/8/2008 14:37

A 2 year old boy mistaken for a 5 year old girl? How long before paedophiles everywhere are using the excuse of "we thought it was Madddie" when they attempt to snatch a child? How long before some idiot does grab a child from their parents and hurts them?

- Dee, East Midlands, 18/8/2008 14:51

Somebody will either seriously injure a child, or they will get thumped by an angry parent, this ridiculous charade should stop now.

- Tim, uk, 18/8/2008 14:52

I wish people would just get a grip. These two british tourits should count themselves lucky that they were not cautioned by the police . They were in a foreign country, how dare they try to gab hold of this child they shoul have alerted the police. This incident just shows how ridiculous these sghtings of Madeline across Eurore are. Everyone who sees a blonde four year old girl is sure that is Madeline. this just goes to show that the testimony of eyewitnesses is not as infallable as we would like to think.

- Donald, Romford Esex, 18/8/2008 14:59

I dont think for a minute whoever has maddie will openly be seen with her without having changed her hair etc. In fact they may never take her out its not the first time children have been abducted and kept prisonver for years and then were found. I think she will never be found in this way, but hopefully will be rescued by the authorities

- maria, west yorkshire, 18/8/2008 15:03

Child abduction?Prison!

- fifi, Edinburgh, 18/8/2008 15:04

I think thats good what if it WAS her, better than sitting on their hands and reporting it to the police after the event, no harm done - if i was pretty sure I would do the same.

- Annie, rugby, 18/8/2008 15:07

Good for them, at least they did something!

- adriana, USA, 18/8/2008 15:09

A.N. - No, it's better NOT to stalk a couple, secretly take pictures of their child, and then try and take him just because he has the same colour hair as another child who was abducted and is now almost certainly dead. Because, if you don't do those things, you avoid becoming an emotionally-unstable, media-controlled freak.

- Richard, Camberwell, 18/8/2008 15:17

better to be wrong and apologise? Um, yeah, I'm sure the parents that have Brits lunge at their kids really think that.

- Matt, birmingham, 18/8/2008 15:17

A well written story and without bias, which makes a rare and refreshing change in the context of the Madeleine McCann case and especially the bogus sightings.

- Su, UK, 18/8/2008 15:21

to A.N. from M.K., surely there are better ways of trying to resolve this situation than abducting the child yourself!

- dan, croydon, 18/8/2008 15:23

Isn?t Madeleine 5 years old already? She would be a lanky youngster these days and look quite different from the chubby toddler she was at the time she went missing. Children grow fast, especially around that age.

- Lucia, Germany, 18/8/2008 15:25

Sounds very much like a case of attempted kidnapping to me, at the very least an assault was committed on the child who must have been terrified.
Just how many more innocent people are going to be subjected to this nonsense, enough is enough, in fact by now it is more than enough. The time has long passed when this constant publicity seeking was put an end to.

- Jimmy R, Scotland, 18/8/2008 15:46

What a pair of plonkers!

- Georgiecat, England, 18/8/2008 15:47

I am sick of it. My neice is 4 and a half with blond hair, and does actually resemble Madaline McCann. I have now been approached 3 times, and god forbid if someone tried to grab her away as this couple did - they'd be eating their meals through straws in a hospital bed for 6 months.

- AA, Herts, 18/8/2008 15:53

This British couple are lucky they didn't come up to me and my son, they would probably spend the rest of their holidays in a Croatian prison or hospital.....

- Michael, London, 18/8/2008 15:53

I agree 100% with the hysteria comments - they were lucky to not be arrested themselves!
Meantine, Rachael, join the 21st century and stop inflicting you out-dated gender stereotyping on everyone else

- Nigel M, Cully UK, 18/8/2008 16:00

What if the child had been a girl and the British couple still hadn't realised their mistake before essentially abducting a (celebrity's) child in a foreign country ? I'm not convinced the local police would have been very sympathetic - they have had a lucky escape !

- Sarah, Bolton, UK, 18/8/2008 16:02

Better to have tried than to wait 15 months and then come forward!!! Well done, I'm sure most people would understand.

- jacci, cape town, 18/8/2008 16:02

Please wake up. Madeleine, if still alive, is not just wandering around in a holiday spot somewhere where tourists frequent. She is well hidden. I am quite surprised that there have not been other incidents of child snatching by well intentioned busybodies. Why did the couple not simply inform the police? They are indeed lucky that the little boy's parents were understanding. The next time it happens, the parents might not be.

- SJ, Leatherhead, Surrey, 18/8/2008 16:14

Never mind, "well done" and "I'm sure most people would understand" We're talking about a very very small child that was grabbed by a stranger...poor little thing must have been terrified. How is that a good thing? This hysteria is way out of proportion, how many other small children are going to be grabbed and then egged on as if it was a good thing!? If it was my child that had been grabbed I would NOT be understanding and my child would probably will scared witless. Have some common sense for goodness sake.

- Sally Bee, London, 18/8/2008 16:25

The poor little boy must have been terrified! I'm amazed the parents were so understanding. I often taken my niece and nephew out (both blonds) and if anyone tried to grab them, I certainly wouldn't be as polite.

- Mise, Ireland, 18/8/2008 16:28

This Madeleine mania Its going to get to the stage where parents with young daughters
with blonde hair will be affaid to take them out in public incase of being mistaken for kidnappers. If the real kidnappers were stupid enough take her out in public, wouldn't they dye her hair black or make her wear a wig.

- Jim of OZ, Melbourne Australia, 18/8/2008 17:12

Why on earth would Madeleine be on a beach anyway? Are these people insane? Do they really believe Madeleine was abducted so that she could go to the beach?

- caroline jayson, Brighton uk, 18/8/2008 17:25

Please wake up! All young girls up to around 5 look the same particularly if they are blonde. Definitieve facial features do not start to develop until after this age and hair colour can also change. Please stop trying to encourage people to grab children if they think it could be Madeleine Mccann. Think about it - how long before this is used as an excuse by child abductors caught in the act? Also in some countries they may not have even have heard of the case and anyone trying this would rightly be arrested.

- Gordon YOUNG, Chelmsford, UK, 18/8/2008 17:47

The parents of this child were very patient and forgiving. Heaven knows how the child would have been affected if their attempted snatch had worked. Didn't they think this through?

- Suki, Pinner, UK, 18/8/2008 18:03

Whenever there is a supposed Maddy sighting and the child isn't approached, the readers are up in arms about how the person who saw the Maddy lookalike should have "done something". Now, when a couple are proactive, they are raked over the coals for attempting a kidnapping. Unbelieveable! Make up your minds!

- patricia Hewitt-Smythe, canada, 18/8/2008 18:06

So well said, Cl?dia in Portugal! Hear hear

- MG, Paris, France, 18/8/2008 18:18

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