Investigators have dismissed alleged sightings of the missing girl Madeline McCann in Paraguay as false.
A British man, Miraz Ullah Ali Isa, who claimed to be a private eye had said Maddie was ‘in the custody of a woman’ in the city of Aregua. It’s believed his claims triggered a major search involving four local police stations, an anti-kidnapping division and Interpol.
Unfortunately, investigators have now debunked the alleged sighting and questioned the credibility of Miraz Ullah Ali Isa.
Over the weekend, Isa told local newspaper ABC Color that his team had received the information that Madeleine arrived in Paraguay a month or two ago.
However, Isa refused to reveal the name of his firm and wasn’t able to offer any documentation to corroborate his claims. The newspaper also discredited his investigation by noting that he ‘only stayed (in the country) a couple of days and didn’t speak with anyone.’
But the report is still understood to have sparked a widespread investigation.
A deputy chief involved in the search, Commissioner Sanny Amarilla, said at the time:
We are investigating neighbourhoods where there are foreign citizens, villas, condos, to see if there is someone with a similar description that corresponds to the newspaper clipping.
This news stretches across the globe, it is very important. So if they are in the area we need to find this girl and return her to her family.
But the allegations were dismissed by inspector Luis Ignacio Arias of Interpol in Paraguay, who explained that his office had ‘nothing concrete’ about Isa’s identity.
Arias Paraguay’s National Police are now believed to be launching an investigation into his story and identity.
The country’s vice minister of interior security, Jalil Rachid, told Radio Monumental that he also had no information on the missing girl living in Aregua. Mr and Mrs McCann also said they had never heard of him.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.