Galery

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A prosecutor’s order has been already issued, according to which tomorrow, on Monday 21 October, pictures will be disseminated of the gypsy family, under whose custody 4-year-old fair-haired Maria was discovered in a Roma camp in the town of Farsala near Larissa. The police believe that the publication of the data will help towards the clarification of the case. Also tomorrow, the two Roma will face a magistrate in order to answer the many questions about the fate of the child.

The "The Smile of a Child" Foundation, which is currently taking care of the girl, has received more than 5,000 phone calls. Some of these were testimonies from residents of Larissa, who remembered having seen the child begging on the streets. According to Kostas Giannopoulos, President of the Foundation, the gypsy family was trying to sell child for the best possible price.

One of the main versions, on which the police are working, is that the child is from Bulgaria. The two Roma have said that twice, without, however, being fully convincing. Furthermore, Bulgaria is one of the countries that "run" the business of the selling and buying of babies in Greece. The police, however, are confident that they are on the verge of discovering a channel for international trafficking of children.

There is particular interest in 4-year-old Maria on the part of the English-speaking media, which sent large teams to Larissa and Farsala. By coincidence, two days before she was discovered in the gypsy camp, the British police released photos of Madeleine Mccann, who was kidnapped from a Portuguese resort in 2007. Photos showed what the child would look like 6 years after the kidnapping, and a sketch of a man whom is believed to have a connection with her kidnapping. The Daily Mail quoted the parents of Madeleine, who said that the discovery of 4-year-old Maria gives them hope for their child.

Also, the Daily Mirror recalled the disappearance of little Ben from the island of Kos in July 1991. The newspaper noted that in 1996 a prisoner from Larissa said that the British child was being raised by a gypsy family living in a Roma camp near Larissa.