Madeleine McCann: Police in Paraguay Says ‘Sightings’ of the Kidnapped Girl Are False

Claims that Madeleine McCann, a British girl who had disappeared in Portugal when she was 3, had been seen again in Paraguay was dismissed by local authorities.
Madeleine McCann: Police in Paraguay Says ‘Sightings’ of the Kidnapped Girl Are False
A picture of three-year old British girl Madeleine McCann who went missing at the Ocean club apartment hotel in Praia de Luz , in Lagos. (AFP/Getty Images)
Jonathan Zhou
3/10/2016
Updated:
3/10/2016

Private detective Miraz Ullah Ali Isa said that someone had tipped him off that missing girl Madeleine McCann had arrived in Portugal, he told ABC Color. 

“My team and i received the information that Madeleine arrived in Paraguay one or two months ago and is living in Areguá in the custody of a woman,” he said. 

A number of theories persist about what happened to Madeleine, ranging from her being killed by a burglar to being trafficked and sold to a childless couple. 

Parents of missing girl Madeleine McCann, Kate (L) and Gerry McCann (R) pose with an artist's impression of how their daughter might look at the age of nine ahead of a press conference in central London on May 2, 2012, five years after Madeleine's disappearance while on a family holiday in Portugal. (LEON NEAL/AFP/GettyImages)
Parents of missing girl Madeleine McCann, Kate (L) and Gerry McCann (R) pose with an artist's impression of how their daughter might look at the age of nine ahead of a press conference in central London on May 2, 2012, five years after Madeleine's disappearance while on a family holiday in Portugal. (LEON NEAL/AFP/GettyImages)

However, Interpol officials in Paraguay have shut down on the rumor. 

“There’s nothing concrete about that person,” Inspector Luis Arias told EFE News

That Madeleine as nowhere to be found in Paraguay was confirmed by the country’s vice minister of interior security, Jalil Rachid,  according to Radio Monumental

The interpol said that they will soon launch an investigation of the detective, who has declined to name the investigative agency that provided him with the information. 

Last month, McCann’s parents said that they believe she’s still in the Portugal city of Praia da Luz, where she originally went missing. 

“That’s where she last was and I don’t think she’s been taken a million miles from there,” said Katie McCann, her mother, according to the Sun. “I’ve always said Praia da Luz is the place where I feel closest to her.” 

Madeleine would turning 13 in May.