LISBON, Portugal, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- A private detective is checking a tip Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from Portugal in 2007, might be in the United States, a source told a British tabloid.
The Sun reported the tip claims the girl was the victim of a reputed pedophile kidnapping gang that may have taken Madeleine and a dozen other children.
The Sun said an investigator hired by the little girl's parents would be interviewing the tipster in Spain in the next few days in hopes it will lead to a break in the disappearance.
McCann was a few days shy of her fourth birthday when she disappeared from a Portuguese resort where her family was vacationing. Portuguese police have since turned up little in the way of leads.
But an amateur detective claims there is a ring of kidnappers with connections to Portuguese authorities that has spirited its supposed victims to the United States. The sleuth's findings have been turned over to Spanish police, The Sun said.
