AN AMATEUR INVESTIGATOR in Portugal claims to have information which suggests that Madeleine McCann was kidnapped and taken to the US.
The young child disappeared from the apartment her family were staying in at Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.
Marcelino Italiano, a nightclub bouncer in the Algarve, said he believes a paedophile ring abducted the child, the Sun reports.
“I can’t say how, but I have known these people and believe they can get away with anything,” Italiano said.
He claimed he had been attacked twice by members of the group and he is prepared “to go to any length to reveal the truth about these sick people” whom he says have taken a dozen other children. Angola-born Italiano has handed his information over to Spanish authorities.
Kate and Gerry McCann have said they welcome the new information and said Italiano had done “absolutely the right thing” by approaching police in Spain with the allegations, the AP reports.
A spokesperson for the couple said that it is “entirely appropriate” for the police and private investigators to investigate the new claims.
The McCanns have released the following digitally-altered images to depict how Madeleine might look now, three and a half years after she disappeared:
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