French police say a child spotted in a restaurant near the southern city of Montpellier was not missing Madeleine McCann. (Sky News Wednesday 20th February 2008)A Dutch tourist claimed to have seen the missing British four-year-old, the latest in a series of alleged sightings across the world.
Police took away CCTV from a roadside restaurant where the child was seen with a man. But after viewing the footage, investigators said while the girl did indeed resemble Madeleine it was not her. A file has now been transferred to a state prosecutor in Montpellier.
Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Madeleine's parents, had said the tourist, thought to be an 18-year-old student, had done "absolutely the right thing" by contacting the police. The teenager had been with a friend when they started looking at a girl because she appeared to be dancing to music from one of their mobile phones, he said. Mr Mitchell said he was told the tourist had been so sure it was the missing girl that she shouted out her name before the man rushed off with the child.
It is thought the woman had mentioned a distinctive flaw in Madeleine's right eye, where the pupil runs into the blue-green iris.
