Baileysmummy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2007
- Messages
- 4,872
- Reaction score
- 0
The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have suffered another setback in the hunt for their daughter after an anonymous phonecall raised hopes.
The McCanns in AmsterdamThe mystery telephone call was from a man claiming to know the four-year-old's whereabouts.
He provided so much detail that Kate and Gerry McCann delayed their campaign trip to Amsterdam.
But Madeleine's father has since dismissed the news as "nothing of interest".
The couple had been informed of the potential development while in Germany, where they were appealing to tourists who may have been in the Algarve around the time of the child's disappearance.
A Spanish police source said: "This did not appear to be a crank call and the information was felt credible enough to warrant the couple being informed immediately."
It is 35 days since Madeleine was abducted from her bed in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz.
The "credible" call was taken from a man who refused to reveal his identity or nationality and wanted to speak directly to the McCanns, according to a Spanish police source.
It was traced to an unregistered pay-as-you-go phone from an unidentified country but not thought to be Morocco, where a previous possible sighting of Madeleine was reported.
At around 3pm yesterday, the couple - who were about to go to Tempelhof airport in Berlin to fly on to the Netherlands - were advised that the caller might try to contact them, so they stayed on at the British embassy.
At 6pm, journalists travelling in the eight-seater private jet with the McCanns were told by the flight crew that there might be a change in destination.
They revealed they had been asked to draw up a new flight plan involving a possible change from Amsterdam to East Midlands Airport.
It was thought the McCanns might need to go back to the UK to talk to advisers about the call.
But all efforts to re-establish contact with the man failed and the couple decided to go on to Amsterdam.
A British police source said: "The importance of this line of inquiry is still being assessed and attempts to re-establish contact are continuing."
The McCanns in AmsterdamThe mystery telephone call was from a man claiming to know the four-year-old's whereabouts.
He provided so much detail that Kate and Gerry McCann delayed their campaign trip to Amsterdam.
But Madeleine's father has since dismissed the news as "nothing of interest".
The couple had been informed of the potential development while in Germany, where they were appealing to tourists who may have been in the Algarve around the time of the child's disappearance.
A Spanish police source said: "This did not appear to be a crank call and the information was felt credible enough to warrant the couple being informed immediately."
It is 35 days since Madeleine was abducted from her bed in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz.
The "credible" call was taken from a man who refused to reveal his identity or nationality and wanted to speak directly to the McCanns, according to a Spanish police source.
It was traced to an unregistered pay-as-you-go phone from an unidentified country but not thought to be Morocco, where a previous possible sighting of Madeleine was reported.
At around 3pm yesterday, the couple - who were about to go to Tempelhof airport in Berlin to fly on to the Netherlands - were advised that the caller might try to contact them, so they stayed on at the British embassy.
At 6pm, journalists travelling in the eight-seater private jet with the McCanns were told by the flight crew that there might be a change in destination.
They revealed they had been asked to draw up a new flight plan involving a possible change from Amsterdam to East Midlands Airport.
It was thought the McCanns might need to go back to the UK to talk to advisers about the call.
But all efforts to re-establish contact with the man failed and the couple decided to go on to Amsterdam.
A British police source said: "The importance of this line of inquiry is still being assessed and attempts to re-establish contact are continuing."
