Daily Mail Headline 'The Mail traces three-year-old in Bosnia who witness thought was Madeleine'; says: 'Hopes that Madeleine McCann had been found in Bosnia have been dashed after police tracked down the local girl behind the apparent sighting. Tea Dedic, three, was found by detectives after the Daily Mail provided them with the number plate of the car she was apparently seen being bundled into. The blow to Madeleine's parents follows similar disappointments in June when there were reported sightings of her in Malta and in Belgium.
Madeleine's family said at the weekend they were treating the Bosnia sighting, by an Irish tourist, as credible. He said he believed he had seen her outside a church in the town of Medugorje in southern Bosnia, a Roman Catholic shrine. He claimed that she shouted "I want my daddy" in English as she was pushed into the back of a Bosnian-registered VW Golf by a couple who appeared to be locals, the tourist added.
But he said police showed no interest in what he reported. After returning home to Fermanagh in Northern Ireland he contacted the Find Madeleine campaign.
At the beginning of the week Bosnian detectives insisted no report had been made to them - but when the Mail passed on the registration number, they acted and traced the car to an address in Ljubuski, a town seven miles from Medugorje.
Tea's father, dentist Slavko Dedic, said he and his wife had gone shopping in Medugorje and had put Tea in their car and driven home when she threw a tantrum.
Officers said they were satisfied with the explanation. They said Tea did not speak English, and suggested that the Irish tourist, who has remained anonymous, must have simply been mistaken. A police source told the Daily Mail: "After being given the car registration plate by the Daily Mail, Bosnian police went within the hour to an address in Ljubuski - and found the VW Golf.
"Tea is very blonde. Without a doubt that is the child. The family are happy to issue a picture of Tea to make perfectly clear she is not Madeleine McCann."
