The search for Madeline McCann has intensified with British police releasing two images of a man they urgently want to trace in the investigation of her disappearance.
Two e-fit images of a man have been released based on separate witnesses who spotted him at the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on the same evening three-year-old Madeline disappeared six years ago.
The images show a man aged between 20 and 40 with brown hair and, while they show slightly different features, investigators are convinced they are seeking the same person.
BBC1’s TV show Crimewatch will broadcast the pictures as part of a renewed international appeal to find Madeline, who disappeared on May 3, 2007 while she slept in her family’s holiday apartment at Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz with her younger brother and sister.
Meanwhile, Manchester police have arrested a man after he boasted to a barrister about meeting Madeline on a Mediterranean island just weeks ago, a breakthrough in the case that is seen to be “potentially highly significant”.
The suspect, who has not been named, was arrested after the barrister contacted local police and gave a detailed statement about what he was allegedly told.
“The fact that [the barrister] was prepared to risk his reputation by making the statement does suggest that it is credible,” a family friend told UK newspaper The Mirror.
“There are tip-offs and sightings all the time and many of them can be ruled out immediately as either complete fantasy or because there is no credibility to the source.
“This one is more credible because of the nature of the man who brought it to the authorities’ attention.”
Manchester officers who conducted the arrest seized computers from a private address and have sent them for forensic examination.
The arrest and newly released images have given new hope to Madeline’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann.
Since British police took control of the investigation from Portuguese officials, they say they have spoken to 442 people and identified 41 “persons of interest”, including carers, residents and workers at the resort.
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