Investigators in the Madeleine McCann disappearance are looking for a man who assaulted five other girls in Portugal between 2004 and 2006.
London’s Metropolitan police announced Mar. 19 their intention to pursue this new lead in the case. The man is believed to be connected to break-ins in 12 vacation homes in the surrounding area of where the little British girl disappeared in 2007.
The man targeted the vacation homes of British families staying in the village of Algarve. Four girls between 7 and 10 years of age were sexually assaulted in their beds.
Witnesses describe the man as being tanned, with short black hair. All of the break-ins occurred in the very early hours of the morning. Investigators believe the man may have been seen watching the homes prior to the incidents.
Three-year-old McCann went missing from her family’s Portugal vacation home on May 7, 2007. Her parents have never given up hope that she would be found.
The mysterious circumstances surrounding her disappearance and alleged sightings over the past six years have helped maintain interest in the case. McCann would be nine years old now. Her case was reopened by the Portuguese police in 2013.
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