Investigators searching for Madeleine McCann are examining a report from India that a young girl matching her description was spotted in the market of a Himalayan city.
The Chandigarh Tribune said that a British woman had seen a youngster bearing a remarkable likeness to Madeleine who disappeared four years ago. She would now be eight years old.
Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Madeleine’s parents Gerry and Kate McCann, said: ‘Our private investigators are aware of the reports from India over the weekend about a possible sighting of Madeleine.
‘We are liaising with the Indian authorities over the incident and await the results of the DNA test.’
The report in the Tribune said a British woman raised concerns with other tourists that they had found the missing girl.
At one point an American man is said to have tried to take the girl from the couple.
However the French woman and her Belgian husband, who had their passports copied by Leh Police, insist that they are the parents of the girl.
A spokesman for Leh police told the Chandigarh Tribune in India: ‘It all depends upon the evidence like DNA for which help from Madeleine’s parents and the British police was required.’
Madeleine was days short of her fourth birthday when she went missing on a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.
Maddie’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann marked the fourth anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance privately with family and friends.
They recently launched a book about how she disappeared with proceeds from the book, entitled Madeleine, going towards the funding of their search for their daughter.
Despite a massive police investigation and huge publicity worldwide, she has not been found.
The official Portuguese inquiry into Madeleine’s disappearance was formally shelved in July 2008, although private detectives employed by the McCanns have continued the search.
Investigators believe this is how she would look aged 6.
Madeleine should now be 8 years old.
The town Leh in North India, where Madeleine may have been spotted
IT's My Thoughts 