PORTUGUESE POLICE have refused to confirm reports that the man in the sketch being publicised by the McCann family is a suspect questioned a few days after Madeleine McCann went missing.
A spokeswoman from Polícia Judiciária told The Resident today (Thursday, January, 24) that they were not making any official comments to the case and added that they could not control the anonymous sources leaking information to the press.
According to the Portuguese daily newspaper Correio da Manhã, a source connected to the case confirmed that at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance an individual was contacted after being pointed out as suspect by a tourist who stayed in Luz. The same source adds that he was then cleared of any suspicions.
Despite confirming the man was contacted by Polícia Judiciária 20 days after the disappearance of Madeleine and that a new conversation was held after the recent release of the sketch, the newspaper says the PJ does not assume that the man questionned is the same man as pictured in the sketch.
The police source quoted by Correio da Manhã went on to say that certain aspects correspond to the description but, for example, the hair is different, in that he now has dreadlocks. He also is quoted as saying that the sketch could be many people, seemingly offering justification as to why the Portuguese police are not giving excessive importance to it.
According to the newspaper, the man who was interviewed by Polícia Judiciária lives in a small village between Espiche and Barão de São João, two villages not very far from Praia da Luz.
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