McCanns' fear over second girl

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GERRY and Kate McCann told of their “extreme concern” last night after a Spanish girl vanished in circumstances similar to their daughter Maddie.

Mari Luz Cortes, five, disappeared on Sunday after going out to buy crisps at a local shop.

Search ... McCanns in Huelva

Search ... McCanns in Huelva

Writing on his blog, Gerry McCann said: "Kate and I were dismayed to learn today that a 5-year-old girl has been missing from Huelva, in Southern Spain since Sunday evening.

"As many of you know, Heulva is approximately a 2 hour drive from Praia da Luz and we went there in early August to publicise Madeleine’s disappearance.

"Hearing of the probable abduction of Mari Luz Cortesa has brought many awful emotions flooding back. We hope and pray that Mari is quickly found and returned safely to her family."

She lives in Huelva, Spain – just a 90-minute drive from Portugal’s Praia da Luz where Maddie went missing.

Cops in both countries are to discuss similarities between the cases.

Gerry and Kate, of Rothley, Leics, visited Huelva last August during the hunt for Maddie.

The city is 120 miles from where their daughter vanished on May 3. Investigators from detective agency Metodo 3, hired by the couple, are probing possible links in the cases. Mari’s parents have followed the example of the McCanns by launching a huge media campaign to trace their little girl.




Thousands of leaflets have been handed out and TV appeals issued.

Family members have gone to Portugal, fearing she was taken there by a paedophile network. Yesterday tearful dad Juan Jose Cortes Ramirez, 34, admitted his family feared the worst. Asked about the possible link with the Maddie case, he said: “It’s not something we want to contemplate right now.”

Cops are investigating reports Mari was seen on a bus with a gipsy woman.

Meanwhile Gerry and Kate – still suspects over Maddie – are “103 per cent” certain the case against them will remain secret for another three months, said their spokesman. Prosecutors have contacted legal intermediary Eurojust to arrange a reinterview of their Brit pals – dubbed the Tapas Seven.

Reports today also said the McCanns may run out of money to find Madeleine in the next four months.

Donations to the The Find Madeleine Fund are dwindling according to reports in Portugal.

And the couple may have to sell their story to the international press to top up the fund.

Directors of the fund are to set discuss how to bring more capital into the campaign, reports Jornal de Noticias.