Madeleine McCann

Day 55: Vigil As Reporter Backs Up Claim
Updated: 12:22, Wednesday June 27, 2007

A vigil for Madeleine McCann will be held at Ireland's holiest shrine, as a Spanish investigator prepares to hand over evidence about her alleged abductor.

Alleged sighting of girl on yacht
It is now 55 days since the four-year-old disappeared from a holiday apartment in a Portuguese seaside resort.

Hundreds of well-wishers in Ireland have been sending messages of support to the girl's parents Gerry and Kate McCann, including many from Knock Shrine.

Madeleine's maternal grandparents Sue and Brian Healy, from Liverpool, asked for the service at the church in County Mayo. It will run from 8pm until midnight on Friday.

Spanish investigator Antonio Toscano has insisted the four-year-old was abducted by a French sex offender, as part of a Europe-wide paedophile network.

He is set to hand over his evidence to police in Portugal this afternoon.

Meanwhile, a girl resembling Madeleine was reportedly spotted being taken aboard the yacht of an Arab family in Malta, the Daily Express said.

Police have been trying to find the boat.

A Portuguese official told the paper: "It is a distinct possibility that Madeleine has been held captive on a vessel like the one seen in Malta, so we are very keen to track this boat very quickly".

There have been a total of 29 alleged sightings of Madeleine on the island so far.

But officers have investigated reports of sightings across the world and none of them have been proven to be Madeleine.