Belgian police hunt Madeleine suspect

Belgian police have issued an identikit drawing of a man reportedly seen with a child fitting a description of missing Madeleine McCann.

Madeleine, four, was snatched exactly three months ago from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in Portugal as she slept next to her younger twin siblings Sean and Amelie as her parents dined nearby.

A woman spotted a couple and a young girl bearing a resemblance to the British youngster in a restaurant in the town of Tongeren on the Dutch border on July 28.

The three left before police were called but a bottle and a straw the child had been drinking from were taken away for tests.

A police spokesman in Brussels said: "The woman told us the little girl bore a striking resemblance to Madeleine and was behaving nervously.

"She said she got up to call us as soon as she saw the girl but when she returned to her table all three of them got into a car and left. We are taking the sighting very seriously."

Jolien Houbrech, who works in the De Pauze restaurant in Tongeren, said she served the English woman and Dutch man who were with the blonde-haired girl aged around five or six.

Miss Houbrech, a 21-year-old student, said she had no suspicions at first about the couple, who she assumed were the girl's parents, until another customer approached her.

"A woman who was a child therapist came up to me and asked if I noticed any resemblance between Madeleine and the child.

"She said that because of her work as a child therapist she had noticed that the people's behaviour was not that of normal parents. After she said that, I said maybe she should call it in to the police."

The couple, who were driving a car with a Belgian number plate, left before the customer had raised her concerns, Miss Houbrech said.

"Now I wish I had done more and paid more attention to them and maybe tried to hear the girl talking, but at the time I didn't notice anything suspicious about the couple," she said.

Meanwhile, Madeleine's parents are heading back to Spain to continue with their search. Gerry and Kate McCann are visiting Huelva, the capital of Andalucia, where they will put up posters of the toddler across the city.

The McCanns' trip will take them along the main motorway between southern Portugal and Spain, which some believe could have been the route taken by her abductor.

The couple's quest to find Madeleine has seen them travel to Spain before, as well as Morocco which lies just a short ferry ride to the south.

Speaking on Thursday night, Mrs McCann said: "Gerry and I want to remind people that our lovely little girl, Madeleine, is still missing. Today will mark three months since she was cruelly snatched from her bed.

"We do not know where she is, or where she has been taken, but would urge tourists and residents in Portugal and Spain to keep looking for Madeleine. All we want is to be reunited with Madeleine and to be a happy family once again."

Information can be provided to an international Crimestoppers number on 0044 18 83 73 13 36, Crimestoppers in the UK on 0800 555 111 or Portuguese police on 00351 282 405 400.

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