The Sun newspaper today

this thread reminds me about the amrican man and the white van Madeleine Police Hunt Van Driver Updated: 11:57, Saturday May 12, 2007 Police hunting for Madeleine McCann are looking for the driver of a small white van, Sky News can reveal. Missing: Madeleine McCannCrime correspondent Martin Brunt said cops want to speak to a man who was spotted near the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz around the time the four-year-old vanished nine days ago. "We don't know how significant it is, but there are several reports of a man hanging around the apartment on the day she disappeared or perhaps the day before," he said. "One report suggests he was sitting in a small, white van. Police have got a good description of the man: about 5ft 8in tall, between 30 and 35, not Portuguese according to one of the witnesses, wearing a blue jacket and white trousers." Distraught: Madeleine's parentsHe said police had produced an e-fit of the suspect which they had been showing to people inside the apartment block in an attempt to jog their memories. He added that police are also keen to trace an American man who lives in the village but who has not been seen for several days - and who also drives a white van. Earlier, Madeleine's parents appealed for people to redouble their efforts to find her on the day they should have been celebrating her fourth birthday. Gerry and Kate McCann said in a statement: "Please keep looking, please keep praying, please bring Madeleine home." The service in GlasgowThey added that the support being offered to them on a daily basis and the "huge amount of effort and resource" being put into the hunt for her were "what keep us strong and... give us hope". Prayers are being said and vigils kept both in the UK and Portugal for the youngster. Hundreds of people attended a church service for her at St Andrew's Catholic Cathedral in Glasgow. Madeleine's father, Gerry, is from the city, and Celtic players will wear yellow armbands in sympathy for the family's plight when they play Aberdeen. Last night, her parents were honoured with spontaneous applause by villagers after a packed late night vigil at the village church at Praia da Luz. Appeal: David BeckhamHer family have asked that residents in their home town of Rothley, Leicestershire, do not celebrate Madeleine's fourth birthday. They requested that plans for a party be put on hold until she is found and returns home - but a birthday prayer vigil is set to take place tonight. Family friends have also released balloons in nearby Queniborough bearing personal messages of love, hope and support for Madeleine and her family. The possibility that she was snatched by kidnappers who took her out of Portugal and into Spain has galvanised support from the expatriate community there. Some 40,000 people have downloaded posters of the four-year-old from the Sky News website and put them on public display. CCTV footage of a woman and two men with a girl matching Madeleine's description at a nearby petrol station is being analysed by police. Their car had British number plates. Meanwhile, David Beckham has appealed for the safe return of the youngster. And British businessman Stephen Winyard has offered a £1m reward to anyone with information leading to her return