|
A
man and a woman arrested in southern Spain are being investigated over
an attempt to extort money from the family of Madeleine McCann.
Four-year-old Madeleine
A senior Spanish police source
said the man, who is Italian, and his Portuguese girlfriendare
being questioned over an alleged approach to the McCanns to exchange
information they claimed to have regarding Madeleine's whereabouts for cash.
Olegario de Sousa from the Portuguese
police told Sky News his officers had joined the Spanish officers on the raid
to arrest the couple, named as Danilo Chemello and Aurora Pereira Vaz, because
of the extortion allegation, but had nothing to link them being held to
Madeleine's kidnap.
However police say material was
found at their villa that warranted further investigation of the extortion
allegation.
Mr Chemello,
61, was initially picked up in the town of Sotogrande in Cadiz province on an international arrest
warrant issued by French authorities before Madeleine vanished.
He has been convicted in France of
mistreating his own child.
Madeleine disappeared from her
family's holiday apartment in the seaside resort of Praia da
Luz in Portugal
on May 3.
Madeleine's parents, Gerry and
Kate McCann, have remained in Portugal
as they continue the search for their daughter.
A spokeswoman for the family said
they were not commenting directly on the potential development.
"The Portuguese police and the McCanns are in constant contact," she
said.
"They will be looking to the
Portuguese police to advise them on any developments.
"They treat everything fairly
and they look to the Portuguese as to what is given more weight and what is
given less weight."
The couple said they would stay in Portugal
until they are ready to return to Britain with the youngster.
They have been living in an
apartment close to the holiday resort flat where Madeleine was snatched from
her bed.
Brian Kennedy, Madeleine's Uncle,
told Sky news: "Our hopes have been raised several times by reported
sightings.
"We're trying not to get our
hopes up too much because they so frequently get dashed.
"We've been cautioned to be
careful not to read too much into reports but it shows people haven't forgotten
about Madeleine even if the reports come to nothing.
"We don't want people to
become tired of the story and they don't seem to be - everybody's been very
kind and supportive."
There have been a host of reports
of possible sightings of Madeleine, most recently in Malta.
The police there said they
have received eight fresh reports in the past few days from people claiming to
have seen the four-year-old, from Rothley, Leicestershire.
The reports follow a wave of
possible sightings of girls matching Madeleine's description across the island. |
