International Search For Missing Girl

(CBS/AP)  After his 4-year-old daughter, Madeleine McCann, mysteriously vanished 82 days ago while on a family in vacation in Portugal, Gerry McCann has been traveling around the world to find her.

McCann, who is British, stopped in the United States to visit the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He said he believes she was taken from the resort by either boat or car and could have possibly crossed into Spain.

"And of course then we're faced very difficult possibility of tracking her internationally," he told The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen. "But she could still be in Portugal."

Madeleine disappeared May 3 after her parents left her and her brother and sister, 2-year-old twins, alone in their room while they went to a restaurant inside their hotel complex in Praia da Luz, a tiny resort town in Portugal's Algarve region.

Police have received countless tip-offs in the last two months, and the girl's parents have launched an international campaign to find her, enlisting the aid of celebrities such as soccer star David Beckham and J.K. Rowling, author of the "Harry Potter" books. McCann said the publicity has generated many reported sightings.

"There have been sightings as far away from Guatemala," he said. "There does appear to be thousands, if not millions, of people who are clearly aware and looking for Madeleine."

McCann said the support of people around the world has helped him and his family cope.

"The fact that so many people want to help find Madeleine," he said. "It does encourage us. But you can understand, the only thing that will make us really happy is getting Madeleine back safe and well."

Last month, Spanish police arrested an Italian man and a Portuguese woman with possible links to Madeleine's disappearance. Spanish television news reported that the man may have tried to extort money from McCann's parents, offering information about their daughter's whereabouts, though police did not confirm that.

The man was detained on an international arrest warrant originating in France, a police spokeswoman said. She said the warrant itself had nothing to do with the McCann case, but would not elaborate or say what made police suspect him in the missing girl case.

The woman was detained due to her association with the man, and there was no warrant for her arrest, the spokeswoman said. She did not identify either suspect by name, saying the investigation was ongoing.

The man and woman both were arrested in Sotogrande, a town in the southern Spanish province of Cadiz, the spokeswoman said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with police rules.

For more information visit Bring Madeleine Home and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

REGARDLESS of your opinions regarding the circumstances surrounding her abduction,

WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASSIST WITH THE SEARCH FOR MADELEINE MCCANN?

We are a huge, and growing, group of like minded people who, after continuing to feel the sadness at the abduction of Madeleine, have come together to work in cooperation to provide organized and coordinated assistance in the search for this lost little girl.

If you feel the same way as we do, and would like to help in however small or large way, please get in touch at: [e-mail]

You can sit, be upset and do nothing, and achieve NOTHING. Or you can do SOMETHING.

Please join us and assist the search. We are presently dealing with many E-mail responses, however, WE WILL contact you. Please comment on where you saw posting. Thank you so much.

The Helping to Find Madeleine Team

[ago5675]

I cannot imagine the mind set of any parent, in today's world, that would leave small children locked and alone in a hotel room!! Did they even consider what could happen if the building caught fire and those babies were trapped? More so, in todays society we are constantly made aware, by the media, of the sexual predators walking among us. I truly feel for them on the loss of this precious little girl. I must, however, place the fault directly in their hands. NEVER ever let your small children out of your sight.

[gabbysmomrs]

I know the parents are feeling guilty enough, but I have to ask: Did the resort have people available to babysit? If they did, did the parents not trust them? Leaving children alone in a hotel room and checking on them every 1/2 hour is NOT acceptable. If you can't get a sitter, take your children along or stay home.

[michellem99-2009]

Don't parents know they never leave children alone ever. Not ever. I trully hope she is found safe.

[shay223]

this is very tragic, but i must ask: why did the parents leave their 4 year old and 2 2yo sibblings alone in a hotel room?

[michellem99-2009]

I read their story on the BBC site first some weeks ago. I don't understand why some person would take a child not theirs. It is a pity what people do over a child that they belongs these Brits and hope she is found. Does the UK have an Amber Alert system like we do here. I wish him the best .

[dovernott]

Yes, the Mccanns are doing a marvelous job of keeping wee Madeleine alive in our hopes and prayers and we pray each day. they are naive and have turned away true professionals that can help them.

see:

http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/blog-161313.html

http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/blog-184126.html

[wiccantexan]

What they should do, unhappily, is have an undercover search the child porn sites to see if her picture comes up.