Watch CBS News

New Image Of Missing UK Girl Madeleine McCann Released

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New Yorkers are no strangers to missing children cases. The recent dig for clues at a building in SoHo in the 1979 Etan Patz cold case shows any new potential leads can have a powerful impact on a family and a city.

Overseas, one family is having that same familiar surge of new hope as British authorities announced new efforts Wednesday to solve the case of Madeleine McCann, a little girl who disappeared in 2007 while her family was on vacation in Portugal.

U.K. police said Wednesday that Madeleine may in fact, be alive and released a new composite image of what she may look like today at age 9.

Her disappearance has drawn global media attention, partly because her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were at one point questioned as suspects by the Portuguese police. They were cleared of any part in the disappearance.

Portuguese police closed their investigation in 2008, but U.K. authorities said Scotland Yard wants the case reopened.

There has been no reliable indication of what might have happened to the girl despite numerous reported sightings from around the world.

Kate and Gerry McCann have pressed to keep the case in the public eye, publishing a book and appearing on the "Oprah Winfrey Show.''

Think it's possible McCann is still alive? Share your thoughts below...

(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.