Identified! Greece - LIVING 4 year old, with Roma couple, Oct'13 - #1

[mrsward]

Sky news

Charged with abduction

 

[dotr]

I mentioned she looks older. I would have said just turned 6 as she's almost lost her baby face

Yes you did and I took your word for it and have been "sleuthing" for slightly older missing children since! thanks
Rrepost concerning age info.

http://www.680news.com/2013/10/21/g...ifying-little-girl-found-in-gypsy-settlement/

"The “Smile of the Child” charity, which is caring for the child known as “Maria” until her biological parents are found, says she is aged around five or six.

The charity director said Monday that the revision follows dental and other examinations done at a hospital where the girl is undergoing health checks. The charity had initially set her age at around four.

A Greek appeal for help in identifying the girl has triggered a global outpouring of sympathy and tips — over 8,000 calls so far — but no concrete breakthroughs, authorities say.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

A Greek appeal for help in identifying an unknown girl who had been living with a Roma couple has triggered a global outpouring of sympathy and tips — over 8,000 calls so far — but no concrete breakthroughs, authorities said Monday.

Greek police on the case are investigating everything from a potential link with child trafficking rings to a welfare scam or even simple charity as they seek the child’s biological parents."

 

[Ellmau]

I mentioned she looks older. I would have said just turned 6 as she's almost lost her baby face

I thought she looked older than four, too.

 

[vlpate]

I am not sure they even have her age right; everything they could have said about her could be false; and I want to know WHY the McCanns hvn't asked for DNA. She looks like theirs to me.

Her DNA was taken, wouldn't investigators be the ones to follow up on a possible match?

Maria has blonde eyelashes, Maddy's are/were dark and very long. Maria looks Danish/Swedish to me.

 

[insatiable]

A scandinavian father thinks Maria might be his daughter. She was born in 2009, in Greece, and was declared dead at the hospital. The parents never got to see her body, and they were suspicious. When they later looked in her grave, there was no body, and he's convinced that his daughter was made victim of trafficking.

http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=22768&subid=2&pubid=63905969

This is interesting.

 

[insatiable]

This article says they have done the dental exam and now think she is 5-6 yrs old. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/greece-girl-maria-found-gypsy-2476166

 

[time]

he family raised the child as if it was their own, although her father would come back every now and then to see her. The last time he visited was only five days ago, after the arrests had been made.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ens-with-claims-her-father-came-to-visit.html

They seem to be making it up as they go along..
The hole there digging is getting deeper..

I just read that article and the story about the father (well, and all the different stories!) seems like an unfortunate parallel to the staged bedroom pictures. I'm wondering if anyone in their community will tell the truth about Maria and her origins. On the other hand, maybe some are just retelling the story they have been told.

This all worries me because before it was said that 10 out their other 14 children are undetermined as to who they belong to and now another 10 (at least that is how I am reading it)?

Greek police believe up to 10 more children found at the camp where Maria was discovered may be victims of an international trafficking ring.

Police raided the Roma camp, near Farsala in central Greece, to search for drugs and weapons.

They noticed the lack of resemblance between the blonde-haired, green-eyed, pale-skinned little girl and her parents, and found further discrepancies when they investigated the family’s documents.

The couple had registered different numbers of children with different regional family registries.

I guess the bright side is that maybe 20 or more children have been rescued and their origins will eventually be known.

 

[time]

I'm agreeing with gitana1 about the video. I have videos of my own children wherein I've been filming one of them and another has walked in front of the camera and I've quickly removed (tugged? Jerked? Yanked? Shoved?) one the others out of the frame. Not my proudest parenting moments. <respectfully snipped>
My point is. We can't see the big picture. They may be abusive. They may take just as good care of her as they possibly can. Albeit within this culture of theirs that may include using children to beg.

I have another take on the video. I think they could be trying to quickly integrate her into the culture so she looks and acts like she belongs. Same with her hair ... suspecting she has had it dyed with henna there. Although I'm not sure that explains why they were videotaping it all. As for getting the kid out of the video, it was very harsh and probably goes significantly beyond what most parents would do to move a child out of the way. That boys arm looked like it was nearly dislocated and that be probably fell to the ground. It was very rough treatment in my eyes.

 

[zwiebel]

I see the green eyes/blue eyes confusion is continuing. I thought it would.

A bit of info about the court appearance here, and what the local Roma spokesperson said.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/in...tery_girl_to_them_in_Greece.html?cid=37160330

 

[mrsward]

The couple

 

[zwiebel]

Her DNA was taken, wouldn't investigators be the ones to follow up on a possible match?

Maria has blonde eyelashes, Maddy's are/were dark and very long. Maria looks Danish/Swedish to me.

I am very interested in the Greek DNA database of missing persons, that they have to check samples against. If they have one, that is.

 

[zwiebel]

I'm surprised...

"Despite its financial troubles, Greek is one of the most active countries..."

http://www.euronews.com/2012/10/01/has-anyone-seen-my-child/

It does say the smile organisation took 6,000 calls in 2011. Now they've had over 8,000 in a day or so. They must be struggling to cope.

 

[vlpate]

The couple

What creeps me out about this picture - why was it taken? It's not like they appear to be a happy family taking a keepsake photo. Are they advertising Maria?

 

[aust amateur slueth]

I am not sure they even have her age right; everything they could have said about her could be false; and I want to know WHY the McCanns hvn't asked for DNA. She looks like theirs to me.

she certainly doesn't look like she is around ten years old, which is how old Madeleine would be now.

 

[Kat]

The couple

Hi Mrsward. Thank you for the picture!

Do you have a have a link handy from where you found the picture?

Thank you!

 

[Elley Mae]

An anthropologist has been tasked to examine Maria in order to determine her age and possibly her likely nationality. The girl only knows a few words in Greek and is able to communicate only in a gypsy dialect.

http://www.tovima.gr/en/article/?aid=535839

 

[Elley Mae]

Hi Mrsward. Thank you for the picture!

Do you have a have a link handy from where you found the picture?

Thank you!

http://www.ekathimerini.com/

 

[mrsward]

http://news.sky.com/


Link above for the picture..

I think picture may have been taken by the police just before they arrested them

 

[vlpate]

This article says they have done the dental exam and now think she is 5-6 yrs old. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/greece-girl-maria-found-gypsy-2476166

This one says 4 after DNA testing. The missing children website for the UK also says 4.

 

[Norwegian]

I am not sure they even have her age right; everything they could have said about her could be false; and I want to know WHY the McCanns hvn't asked for DNA. She looks like theirs to me.

The McCanns would know immidiately if it was Madeleine upon seeing a picture. One of Madeleine's pupils are deformed; it blurs into the eye color like an arrow.