Is this some other poor parent's Maddie? Police appeal for help identifying blonde girl, 4

[twinkles**stars]

• Unidentified girl found living in a Roma gypsy camp in central Greece
• Man, 39, and woman, 40, arrested and charged with abducting a minor
• The girl has fair hair and pale skin and bears no resemblance to them
  
• DNA testing proved she was not related to the couple
  
• Charity now caring for the girl requests global hunt to find her real parents

Who is she? Police are appealing for help identifying this four-year-old girl who was found on a gypsy camp in Greece after she was allegedly abducted

Greek authorities have requested international help to identify a four-year-old girl found living in appalling conditions in a gypsy camp with a couple whom they have arrested and charged with abducting her.

The child was found on Wednesday near Farsala in central Greece during a routine search of the camp by police looking for drugs and weapons.

The girl reportedly sparked one of the officer's curiosity as she is blonde, pale skinned and bore no resemblance to the other Roma children or the couple who claimed to be her parents.

A 39-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman have been arrested and charged with abducting a minor.

Police said they offered conflicting accounts about the girl, one claiming that she was found in a blanket, the other claiming she had been handed to them by strangers.

Police said today that DNA testing proved the girl, who is believed to be called Maria, was not related to the couple.

'Her features suggest that she might be from an eastern or northern (European) country,' regional police chief Panayiotis Tzavaras said.

Police have notified Interpol for assistance.

Detectives say they also found drugs and unregistered firearms in other parts of the settlement, which is about 280 kilometers (170 miles) north of Athens.

The police statement said the couple claimed to have a total 14 children, and had registered different numbers with authorities in three different parts of Greece.

Officers found three minors living with them in the settlement who appear to be their children - although that hasn't yet been verified by DNA testing.

The case bears a disturbing similarity to theories about the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann, who went missing on a family holiday in Portugal on May 3, 2007.

The girl is now in the care of the charity 'A child's smile,' which said today it has sought the assistance of European and global groups for lost or abused children in tracking her parents.

More...

• Detectives probing Madeleine McCann disappearance receive another 150 calls after fresh appeal on Du...
• Who did the key witness see? Police say it is possible that family saw Maddie being taken by her abd...

She does not speak other languages than Roma but appears to understand Greek and is being communicated with by sign language.

She was said to traumatised when she arrived at her care home but has since settled and is living in a safe family environment with other children of her age.

Distress: Dirty and grimacing as her photo is taken, the little girl is now the centre of an international appeal. Authorities hope her parents can be found so the family can be reunited

Police said the child was found near Farsala in central Greece during a crackdown on illegal activities by Roma

A medical examination is ongoing.

Panayiotis Pardalis, a spokesman for the charity, said: 'It was obvious that she was not a Roma girl.

'She was afraid and under some psychological pressure when she arrived. Colleagues have been trying to communicate but are struggling.

'She seems to understand Greek but cannot speak it. She was living under bad conditions and was very dirty but is now safe.'

Charity director Costas Giannopoulos said the child was undergoing medical examinations.

'We are shocked by how easy it is for people to register children as their own,' he told private Skai TV.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2465942/Is-poor-parent-s-Maddie-Police-appeal-help-identifyi...
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[**meep**]

i think Supernova is right, its most probably henna.

[**meep**]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPhX6ppKXsI

[cherry*135]

Interesting link, meep. The son that was shown who is a young teen, looks very much like Maria and they other youngest two children in that family.

[icyfroth]

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@azureline** wrote:

can't they tell if a child is albino by looking at them? I don't know much about it, I admit but I thought there were clear indicators?

However, my daughter at age 5 and her best friend, no relation at all, were so alike that people often confused them and some thought they were twins.

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where does the albino come in?

[**meep**]

Yes, they sure do.  I could understand what they girl was saying, the reporter asked her if she "recognised" Maria and, as you heard, the girl said, yes, she is my sister.   Will be interesting to see.

[**meep**]

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@icyfroth wrote:

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@azureline** wrote:

can't they tell if a child is albino by looking at them? I don't know much about it, I admit but I thought there were clear indicators?

However, my daughter at age 5 and her best friend, no relation at all, were so alike that people often confused them and some thought they were twins.

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where does the albino come in?

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I initially thought that and commented on it here, then, a caption in one of the links:

Children of Sasha Ruseva, pose for photographs in their home today including two believed to be albino (right)

[icyfroth]

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@am*3 wrote:

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@icyfroth wrote:

I am sure the authorties are on to that, would be on to that if they thought it necessary. Be easy enough to  DNAtest them all.

Goes without saying, wouldn't you say?

Perhaps the Bulgarian family have registered all the children they have living with them now,   have had them all since birth and there are no concerns that they aren't all theirs.

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

There has been nothing reported which suggests otherwise.

All reports come to you personally, do they?

Again, I doubt the mother would initiate contact with police if she was harbouring 2 children that weren't her own that she plans to sell to traffickers.

At this stage, neither your doubts or mine are relevant to the investigation

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Icy if you just want to put smart comments after my genuine replies to your posts why bother replying? 

I'm simply adopting the same tone you use in your replies to me. And I'll "bother" to reply at my own discretion if that's alright with you.

This question deserves a serious answer from you: If the mother in Bulgaria was into child trafficking, had 2 children in her care that she intended to sell...

My previous answer WAS serious. At what point was it said that the woman had 2 children in her care that she wished to traffic?

I simply questioned if all the children were indeed her bio children. A not unreasonable question in light of the "Blond Angel" investigation of the Greek Roma "parents".

do you think she would initiate contact with the police?

How would I (or you) know what the woman would or would not do, not knowing her circumstances. It's best not to jump to conclusions. At this stage, all we can do is question.

You have no reason to suggest the 2 fair children with the Bulgarian mother aren't hers

I think I do, in light of the Maria investigation

...it has not been suggested in any news reports and adds nothing to the story about Maria.

in fact it does add to the Maria story IMO seeing she's claiming to possibly be her mother

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[icyfroth]

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@am*3 wrote:

It was in a police raid in search of drugs and weapons that police noticed the little blond girl and questioned the parents. But only because the Maddie McCann case had recently been re-opened in Britain.

I don't believe that is a true account of what happened at all. Do you have any prove that police in Greece were asked to target Roma Gypsy camps in Greece pretending to look for drug & weapons but were really looking for young blonde girls?

No and seeing that's not what I said, your question is irrelevant. Where did you get the idea police were "pretending to look for drugs and weapons"?

When Maria was found it was reported a female police officer noticed her peeping out from under a blanket and thought she did not look like she was child of that family because she was blond & blue eyed. The police were there on a drug/weapon search. A coincidence if it tied in with the Crimewatch Madeleine McCann TV progam airing.

That's right. And your point?

supernova - For the hair dye -- I thought they may use some homemade dye.. made from what I don't know.

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[cherry*135]

icy - I have asked you to expand on your previous statements, nowhere did I make any snarky remarks in doing so.

I am interested in comments that are made on rdetails reported in the media so far,not made up stuff.

The drug/weapon search of Roma Gypsy camps in Greece - where was it ever reported that that  those searchees were initiated because of the  Maddie McCann's case being in the media recently?

The two chiildren the mother in Bulgaria has.. where did anyone in the media or elsewhere apart from 1 poster in this thread, suggest they aren't the mothers biological children? She actually has 4 children with the fair hair/colouring.

[cherry*135]

More on this story here, the mother was 13 when she had her first baby.

I want my Maria back: The Roma mother of ten, held twice for trying to sell babies, who says 'I HAD to leave my blonde girl in Greece'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2475971/Bulgarian-Sasha-Ruseva-believed-Marias-mother-wants-...