McCann search on NSW coast

Tonia Moorton | 11th August 2009

THE international search for missing British girl Madeleine McCann
could extend to Byron Bay after reports of a possible sighting at the
weekend.Media reports suggest a person mentioned to a police officer they saw a child who resembled the missing girl near Suffolk Park.Madeleine, 4, disappeared on a family holiday in Portugal in 2007Byron Bay police Inspector Owen King said no such information has been reported to the station.

The Australian Federal Police confirmed no police were investigating
a claim the girl had been spotted at Byron, but they were aware
inquiries were being conducted in Australia on behalf of the McCann
family. They could not confirm if this included Byron Bay.“The
AFP has not received any referral from either private investigators
employed by the McCann family, UK law enforcement agencies, or NSW
police,” the spokesman said.“The AFP is aware inquiries are
being conducted in Australia on behalf of the McCann family, but no
request for assistance has been received by any state, domestic or
international agency.”Meanwhile, Australian detectives have 'a
number of viable leads' in the search with a Victorian woman believed
to hold vital clues to the girl's disappearance. Family
spokesman Clarence Mitchell said there were several tips worth pursuing
out of the hundreds of leads sent in from the public about the woman
wanted in connection with Madeleine's disappearance.“An awful lot of these tip-offs and bits of information are well-meaning, but ultimately come to nothing,” Mr Mitchell said.“But
out of all this we have had dozens of names for the woman we're looking
for given to us. And out of that the detectives have a number of viable
leads.”One of the hundreds of tips sent in included a Sydney
woman telling NSW police that her friend in Melbourne looked similar to
the Victoria Beckham look-alike investigators hope to find. But the friend said she was shocked to have been connected to the story.Standing outside her home on Saturday evening, 53-year-old Judith Aron denied she had any involvement in the case. Coincidently, she lives on Madeline Street, but she insisted that the media and her friend had 'got it wrong'. Mr
Mitchell said Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were aware of
the recent tip-offs and reported sightings across Australia.“We will get some reports that do come to nothing, others though could turn out to be highly significant,” he said. The man heading the McCanns' search for their daughter, Dave Edgar, said the case had taken a new turn. The
woman that investigators were looking for reportedly spoke to a British
man outside a bar in Barcelona, Spain, three days after the girl went
missing from Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.The British man, who
did not want to be identified, had told detectives of his brief
conversation with the Australian or New Zealand-sounding woman. The man said she asked him: “Are you here to deliver my new daughter?”While
investigators do not believe the woman is a suspect in the case, they
do believe what she told the man could be significant to their
investigation.

Hmm thats a bit of an odd report..........first off.........

has there been a reported sighting or not? Is this a sighting they dont want to be released,trying to keep it quiet?
How come media over heard someone saying this to a cop?
What was the media doing wandering around in a park?

I think this is a false report..a lie and an attempt to sell papers by the paper involved.

secondly.........whos this Victorian woman???Is this a new woman or do they mean Victoria beckham lookalike? ''a Victorian woman believed to hold vital clues to the girl's disappearance.'???That means we have someone whos from the late 1800's to early 1900's!! Not sure what paper is printing this report but i think they need to sort themselves out...for madeleines sake.

Clairesey they mean from the state of Victoria, Aus.
LOL

I never trust newspapers/media. They will always report what they want the gullible public to believe.

Claire

Dear oh dear. When I wrote about the Victorian Police Commissioner in previous posts, did you think I meant from Scotland Yard in the 1880's.

Of course it is Victoria, Australia. But I will give you the benefit of the doubt, it is getting late there.

On this article. NSW police will not release details that will jeopardise the case, so we dont know if this is real of not. I wonder where these 'reports' of a sighting at Byron Bay came from. Surely if someone did report a sighting they didnt ring the paper with it (but then who knows), and the police themselves would not be saying, nor would the McCanns detectives.

Very strange.

Ohhhhhhh LOL thanks peaceful and Dianne,,,got ya!! but yes for a Minuit there i was flabbergasted!!couldn't understand why we were hearing about some victorian woman lol.I knew the woman was old shes a pensioner by all accounts, but when i read victorian i was a ickle confused!!

But i got ya now though.God your right it is late here.... and im tired to lol.As you can see!!!

Clairesy, I have many a blonde days, so you're not alone.

Clairesy

It was funny, and I laughed out loud.

Thanks for that. I should have thanked you before, it brightened my day.