But despite filing a report with both British and Spanish police at the time, giving descriptions and a car numberplate, Sisson, who lives in Gibraltar, is certain the sighting was never investigated.
Intriguingly The Olive Press has now managed to locate details of a German family – under the name ‘Karsten Meyer’ – who did indeed check into the Cabopino campsite, near Fuengirola, three days after Maddie disappeared.
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Even more intriguingly, records from the campsite show that the couple actually paid a supplement on arrival on May 6 for an ‘extra child’ having originally booked themselves in as one family.
They had a blue Mercedes Vita van and were towing a caravan.
A numberplate recorded by the campsite, which began ‘BE’ with five letters has not been used in Germany since 1974, although the first Vita van’s were only manufactured in 1996.
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“But this is the first we have heard about any possible Maddie sighting here and police have certainly never been in touch.”
It is this discrepancy that has so irritated Sisson, who this week once again contacted UK police investigating the case.
“There was something strange about it all,” explained the Durham-born artist, who explained that the couple were of slim build and looked to be in their late thirties.
“It was like the girl was alienated and completely different to her family. It really was most peculiar,” said Sisson.
“She was sat on her own, not playing but just standing swaying as if in a dream. She looked really out of it.”
She continued: “It was also strange that they also had two toddlers, with curly blond hair, eerily like Sean and Amelie.
“And there were children’s toys, a bike and rollerblades around the caravan for a girl her age, so I had the impression maybe they had lost a girl and seen Maddie and wanted to replace her,” she added.
“I deliberately went to look at the girl again the next day and she was wearing the same clothes as the day before even though it was 27 degrees heat.
“A mother would know that this was a strange thing as children of that age go through so many clothes and love to strip off in the heat.
“I have a little girl myself who is just a year older than Maddie; it makes me think about it even more.”
She continued: “At one point the girl started to move towards the pool to play with other children and the lady came and got her and lead her back by the hand.
“She obviously did not want her playing with the other kids.”
Sisson had been on holiday with her husband Richard, a buyer for an electrical business in Gibraltar, when she first set eyes on the girl.
So convinced was she that it could be Maddie she actually made a two hour round trip a week later to check the family out again.
“I literally could not sleep, it haunted me and I decided to drive back to have a second look,” she said.
“It definitely looked like her, and again I contacted Crimestoppers and even my local Gibraltarian police, but nothing seems to have been done.”
The campsite confirmed that a Karsten Mayer had stayed there from May 6 to May 18, 2007.
As well as confirming the car number plate and a date of birth from 1970, they were also able to furnish a passport or ID number.
http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2012/05/08/did-german-couple-snatch-maddie-mccann/
