Missing Girl’s Family Lobbies in Britain

By BARRY HATTON

PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal – Police searched the villa of their only official suspect in the disappearance of 4-year-old Madeleine McCann on Wednesday, while the British girl’s family lobbied in London to keep up the two-week-old hunt.

Forensics experts spent their third day at the home of the 33-year-old man, identified by media as British and a longtime resident of Portugal. Officials said they were also examining computers and cell phones from the villa but declined to specify what they’d found.

The villa, hidden by high walls and tall trees, is just down the street from the hotel where Madeleine was apparently abducted May 3.

Madeleine vanished after her parents left her, and her brother and sister, both aged 2, alone in their room while they went to a tapas bar inside the hotel complex in Praia da Luz, a sunny resort town in southern Portugal.

The child’s disappearance has been the main story in Britain this month, leading newscasts and dominating front pages. The girl’s family has set up a fund to help find her, and celebrities such as soccer star David Beckham have made public appeals on their behalf.

The suspect, who has not been identified by officials, was questioned Monday after British journalists reported to police that he’d poked around the crime scene while implying he was part of the investigation. Police released him Tuesday for lack of evidence, but said he remains under suspicion.

The man said he was at home with his mother when the girl disappeared, had nothing to do with the abduction and was set up as a “scapegoat,” British TV station Sky News reported.

Police are also investigating whether the girl was abducted by an organized pedophile ring, and possibly taken to neighboring Spain. They called off their ground search for the child last week.

In the House of Commons in London on Wednesday, many British lawmakers wore yellow ribbons, which have become a symbol of hope for Madeleine’s safe return.

Chancellor Gordon Brown, expected to take over as prime minister when Tony Blair steps down in June, met members of Madeleine’s family and said he would help “in any way he can,” a spokesman said.

Philomena McCann, the girl’s aunt, said: “Madeleine is a beautiful, caring little girl. I can totally understand why someone might take her – but give her back, she is not yours.”

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Associated Press writers Jennifer Quinn and Yuxing Zheng in London contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

http://www.findmadeleine.com