The story of Maddie McCann has now been made into a Netflix documentary series, titled The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The programme has brought the case back into public consciousness, more than a decade since the abduction and the media furore which followed. The Telegraph described the case as “the most heavily reported missing-person cast in modern history.” There have been hundreds of reported sightings of Madeleine – so here are some of the more prominent sightings which proved baseless.

PORTUGAL

After Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007, there were numerous reports taken seriously by Scotland Yard as well as Portuguese authorities.

These included reports of a man carrying a child in floral pyjamas, a taxi driver ferrying three men, a woman and a girl to the airport, and a trucker who claimed to see a child being bundled into a car.

None of these amounted to anything significant, as far as the public has been made aware.

SPAIN

A blonde girl, said to be identical to Madeleine, was reported to be seen with a German family on the Costa del Sol, just three days after the child went missing.

However, this turned out to be the daughter of a German-speaking Swiss native.

MOROCCO

Numerous reports of a child fitting Madeleine’s description were reported around Marrakech, Morocco in 2007.

Interpol discounted the sightings, although British police remained in Morocco for a while to investigate.

BELGIUM

There were two reported signings of the child in Belgium in 2007, both of which turned out to be a four-year-old Belgian child.

MALTA

Security was tightened in Valletta, Malta in June 2007 following 29 reported sightings on the island, none of which became anything significant.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

An Irish tourist reported a sighting in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the beginning of November 2007.

The child was later revealed to be the three-year-old daughter of a local dentist.

FRANCE

A Dutch student reported seeing Madeleine in the south of France in February 2008, which also amounted to nothing.

BRITAIN

The first reported sighting in Britain occurred in Dorset in February 2008.

A Retired civil servant said that a young girl was with a Portuguese couple, who came to the door.

AUSTRALIA

A sighting of Madeline McCann was reported in the Sydney central business district on 17 March.

The reported sighting, of a middle-aged man carrying a blonde girl, turned out to be a false alarm.

BRAZIL

There have been six reported sightings in Brazil. A witness reported seeing Madeleine on a plane flying to São Paulo, in late March.

Five earlier reports had been investigated and discounted.

NETHERLANDS

In 2008, Portuguese police released a 14-volume case file of possible sightings of Madeleine across the globe.

The report included a Dutch woman who reported that a girl who resembled Madeleine had come into her shop and had told her the adult she was with was “a stranger” who “took me from my mummy” while she was on holiday, adding her name was “Maddie”.

The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said it was a “disgrace” that they had not been told by police about the reported sighting at the time.

SWEDEN

The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet published, in October 2009, a photograph of a girl, seen in Sweden, who bore a similarity to Madeleine.

NEW ZEALAND

In New Zealand, CCTV video from a department store in showed a girl who looked like Madeleine being led into the store by a man.

INDIA

In 2011, British and American tourists reportedly saw a young girl with a French/Belgian couple in India, who claimed the child was theirs.

ITALY

In 2016, a homeless girl in Rome named Maria was thought to be the missing Madeleine, and her photograph was splashed across the press.

However, someone quickly came forward and said they recognised the girl as their daughter, and it was quickly established the young girl was not Madeleine.

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