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Antonio Toscano
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A GIRL
resembling missing Madeleine McCann was seen being taken
aboard the yacht of a wealthy Arab family, police in Malta have been told.
The island’s overstretched force was last night
desperately trying to trace the boat.
Several people contacted police to report the sighting.
Some were so convinced the girl was Madeleine that they
tried to approach the Arab family but were blocked from
getting near the yacht by security guards.
All ports in the region are being monitored and Malta’s special forces have been
sent to the area.
The total number of reported sightings of Madeleine in Malta has
reached 29 since she disappeared on May 3 from
the Portuguese resort of
Praia da Luz while on holiday
with her family.
It is a distinct possibility that Madeleine has been
held captive on a vessel like the one seen in
Malta a Portuguese official
Last night a Portuguese official said: “It is a distinct
possibility that Madeleine has been held captive on a
vessel like the one seen in Malta so we are
very keen to track this boat very quickly”. A charity
telethon broadcast in Malta on Sunday
was dominated by Madeleine, with the island’s 1992
Eurovision song contest entry Mary Spiteri dedicating
her song Little Child to the missing girl.
Today a Spanish investigator who claims to know
Madeleine’s kidnapper is set to hand over his evidence
to police.
Antonio Toscano says he is certain the four-year-old was
snatched by a French sex offender on the orders of the
wealthy kingpins of a Europe-wide paedophile network.
Toscano’s claims first came to light three weeks ago but
have so far prompted a lukewarm response from the
Portuguese authorities, who want him to provide evidence
to support his allegations.
Television investigator Toscano, whose story was
published in Spain’s
respected daily El Mundo, also works as a private eye
specialising in missing children cases.
Last week he emailed the Portuguese police with the full
name and a picture of the French paedophile.
He said Portuguese and Spanish police are working on
tracking down the mystery man, a convicted paedophile
said to use the alias “The Frenchman”.
Toscano added that he has also passed on the names and
photographs of the paedophile’s associates, who are
known to be at large after serving jail sentences for
child sex offences.
The 36-year-old investigator insists he is “100 per cent
certain” the Frenchman snatched Madeleine. He claims
the Frenchman told an informant of his that he was going
to the
Algarve
to visit friends – only to vanish after the girl
disappeared from the McCann family’s apartment.
Toscano said: “I’m not willing to make any of the names
public yet. The police need time to work on the
information I’ve given them. But I hope in due course
they will make both the names and pictures public as
part of an appeal for information on their whereabouts.”
He added: “Every other lead has fallen down. The police
are now working on the first piece of credible
information they’ve had since Madeleine went missing.”
The investigator, who has solved 14 missing children
cases, claims to have met the mystery Frenchman twice
while investigating paedophile cases. He has offered
anguished parents Kate and Gerry McCann his services for
free.
A spokesman for the family acknowledged contact with
Toscano but said he declined to provide a name for the
suspect at every stage.
