Charles Miranda
October 01, 2007 09:54am
AN anonymous tip-off to the Prince of Wales has sent UK police on an urgent hunt for a new suspect in the Madeleine McCann case.
The email - sent via Prince Charles' website - claimed a disgruntled former employee of the Portuguese resort where the toddler went missing, could be behind her disappearance.
It claimed Madeleine was abducted from the Praia da Luz apartment in revenge against the complex's owners.
It is understood police have confirmed the woman named in the email did work at the resort when Madeleine was last seen 150 days ago.
Royal aides have passed the email on to Scotland Yard, which is now trying to trace the author.
A police source told London newspaper The News of the World: "There have been hundreds of Madeleine theories, sightings and tips sent into UK cops from members of the public. But this one is different.
"It's incredibly detailed and so far, from the inquiries being made in Portugal, it appears to be based on factual events."
Police believe that the tipster entrusted the information to Prince Charles because he and wife Camilla came out in support of Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry.
In a statement released from Clarence House in May, the royal couple said they had been following the case "closely and with deep concern" and "fervently hoped" Madeleine would be reunited with her family.
The development came as another resort worker said they had seen a British tourist "hiding" in the stairwell just metres from the McCann apartment on the night Madeleine vanished.
"It was about 6pm on the day the little girl went missing. I saw this Englishman standing under the stairwell," the worker told the London Sunday Mirror.
"He was round-faced and stocky, wearing light clothes and positioned so that he was monitoring the (area). He was hiding and watching."
The worker was interviewed by police early in the investigation and has been reinterviewed.