Madeleine McCann Sighting: Researcher Alleges He ‘Spotted’ Missing Girl In Paraguay

A researcher claims he “spotted” Madeleine McCann in the South American country of Paraguay. A huge police operation was launched when the private eye claimed he knew something about the now 12-year-old’s disappearance.

Yahoo! reports that a massive manhunt was put in force after a private investigator by the name of Miraz Ullah Ali said Madeleine was “spotted” in Paraguay.

Officers from Interpol and the anti-kidnapping division were assigned to this recent development in the case.

Ali alleged that Madeleine was in the custody of a woman in the city of Aregua. He shared news of his suspicions with Color ABC instead of going to local authorities or alerting government officials about his theories.

“My team and I received the information that Madeleine arrived in Paraguay a month or two ago and is living in Areguá in the custody of a woman,” said.

Missing Madeleine McCann ‘seen in Paraguay’ resulting in huge search operation https://t.co/BbCySPZuI4

— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) March 9, 2016

It was a local senior police officer who confirmed that a search was underway for McCann. Commissioner Sanny Amarilla said law enforcement was searching homes, villas, and condos to see if someone matched Madeleine’s physical description.

In a cringe-worthy report by the Mirror, the investigator who charged that Madeleine McCann was “smuggled” into Paraguay is under fire for making a “grave error.”

Ali alleged how the woman he believed had Madeleine actually arrived in Aregua “a month or two ago.” The information flummoxed local police, who said they received no information from this man on any sighting of McCann.

Chief of Interpol Victor Tandi charged that Ali “committed a grave error if his information was right because he’s alerting the kidnapper that he’s looking for them. It’s very strange.”

Tandi told how the private eye is believed to have left the country on Monday after visiting “only three days.”

Details surrounding Ali are scarce. Officials are scouring the surface for information on the man who claimed he spotted Madeleine McCann, but nothing solid has emerged. It’s believed that he’s based in Britain. There’s also clues that he flew to Aregua for other reasons related to publishing an appeal for information in a local paper.

“I think what this supposed investigator did was very foolish,” Paraguay’s Vice interior minister Jalil Rashid said in a radio interview. “He’s saying missing Madeleine is in Aregua and he goes there to take some pictures and then returns. Obviously he left empty-handed.”

Rachid further accuses Ali of being “very irresponsible and committed a grave error in the way he’s acted.”

Ali is thought to be back in London now.

“We sent personnel to Aregua but didn’t obtain any information pointing towards Madeleine being there,” Rachid continued. “That’s not to say we won’t in the future but at the moment we’ve got nothing.”

Investigator who claimed Madeleine McCann was in Paraguay could have ‘alerted kidnapper’ https://t.co/fe5PwajSoC pic.twitter.com/Qu3o8W6ZvT

— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) March 10, 2016

All told, it appears to investigators with international agencies and officials that the researcher made claims of a Madeleine McCann sighting to get publicity.

A family spokesman said Kate and Gerry McCann were informed of the latest “sighting” regarding their daughter. The girl’s parents “encourage anyone who has any information about Madeleine to get in contact with officers from Operation Grange.”

Over the years since Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, there have been many “sightings” of the girl. Upon each one — including sightings in Sweden and Morocco — vigorous investigations have been conducted that have so far come up with nothing.

[Photo by Official Find Madeleine Campaign/Facebook]