Private detectives report fresh clues in Maddie hunt (Roundup)

Aug 6, 2009, 14:23 GMT

   London/Sydney - British investigators searching for Madeleine McCann said Thursday they believe that a 'woman with an Australian or New Zealand accent' could have information on the girl's disappearance more than two years ago.

   At a news conference in London, private detectives hired by the Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, released an electronic image of the woman whom they described as a 'lookalike of Victoria Beckham,' the former Spice Girl and wife of footballer David Beckham.

   In Sydney, Australian police said Thursday they were not involved in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine in the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.

   'We haven't received a request for any assistance,' a police spokeswoman said.

   The parents of Madeleine, now six, have hired private detectives to continue the search for the girl after the authorities in Portugal closed the case a year ago.

   They launched a massive worldwide publicity campaign to find Maddie, and were at one point themselves declared suspects by the Portuguese authorities - a status that has since been lifted.

   Sightings of Madeleine have been reported from all over the world, but none have proved to be genuine.

   The detectives said woman they are looking for had been seen in Barcelona, northern Spain, by two British men three days after Maddie disappeared.

   Former detective inspector Dave Edgar said the woman, believed to have been in her mid-30s, had a 'brief conversation' with one of the British men which suggested that she 'might know something' about Madeleine.    'She's a significant individual, I wouldn't describe her as a suspect' said Edgar.

   He insisted that Madeleine could 'most definitely' have been brought by yacht from southern Portugal to Barcelona by May 7, the day the encounter between the woman and the British men took place.

The men first saw her when they were drinking in bars in Barcelona's former Olympic port, reported Edgar. She was said to be well-dressed but appeared agitated, apparently waiting for someone.

One of the witnesses had a brief conversation with her in which the woman apparently thought he was the person she was scheduled to meet, reported Edgar.

After speaking to the witness, the woman left for a next-door bar where she had a 'heated conversation' in what sounded like fluent Spanish, said the detective, who described the witnesses who had recently come forward as 'very credible.'