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LISBON - Police are investigating whether a paedophile ring ordered the kidnap of a three-year-old British girl who vanished from her bed five days ago in southern Portugal, daily Correio da Manha reported on Tuesday.
Madeleine McCann is believed to have been abducted from her apartment on May 3 in Praia da Luz, a popular resort in the Algarve, just yards away from where her parents were dining.
Her parents immediately insisted it was an abduction because there was evidence of a forced entry in the bedroom where she was sleeping with her two-year-old twin brother and sister.
"The chance that Madeleine's kidnap was ordered by an international paedophile network of British origin was yesterday one of the most consistent leads police were investigating," Correio da Manha reported unnamed police sources as saying.
British police have supplied their Portuguese counterparts with information regarding British paedophile rings with connections to the Algarve, according to the daily.
Portuguese police declined to comment on the report but said that all possibilities were being considered.
"We will issue a statement later today but at this time we cannot release any more information," said Olegario de Sousa, a spokesman for the Portuguese police.
Correio da Manha also reported that the McCanns had left their children alone before during their holiday in the Algarve.
"Police have reconstructed the holiday routines of the McCanns and have come to the conclusion that the children were left alone on other occasions," the daily said.
The McCanns have made four televised appeals since her disappearance, calling on whoever may have taken her to return their daughter unharmed.
- REUTERS
