A DRAMATIC sighting of missing Madeleine McCann the day after she vanished is being urgently followed up by private investigators. A man has reported seeing a girl he is now sure was Maddie lying in the back of a van. She was wearing pyjamas identical to the pair Maddie had on when she was abducted. The vehicle was white - and other witnesses have recalled seeing a white van near the holiday apartment in Portugal from where she was taken. A child in pyjamas was also seen being carried by a man at the resort.
New witness Carlos Moreira, 65, has told investigators the little girl he saw was with a man and woman who looked like gipsies. When shown a previously-unpublished e-fit of a suspect, he identified it as being the van's driver.
A source close to Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry said last night the sighting was "highly significant" and added: "It could be a key breakthrough."Portuguese Mr Moreira said he only recently connected his sighting with the Maddie hunt because it was 160 miles from where she vanished. He was driving from Carregado, near Lisbon, to Alentejo on May 4 when he stopped at a snack bar in the Benavente region at 8am.
He told The Sun: "I saw a white van with the back door open. I saw a girl, lying on a pile of clothes in the back. She was wearing a two-piece pyjama set, pink and white, or yellow. I saw her back, I could see her hands and feet. She moved one of her fingers but she was deeply asleep. When the van door was opened, she did not wake up, as if she was drugged."
This girl was blonde and looked around four. A woman came out of the back of the van. I noted that a strong and tall man, wearing a suit, was in front of the snack bar. (The Sun)