Man suspected of Madeleine extortion bid held pending extradition

An Italian man held on suspicion of trying to extort money from the parents of missing Madeleine McCann has been detained in prison on orders from a National Court judge pending his extradition to France, officials said today.

Judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska ordered Danielo Chemello, 61, be held in prison while France submits the paperwork necessary for an extradition, a court spokeswoman said.

French legal authorities now have 40 days in which to prepare and forward the paperwork.

A Portuguese woman, Aurora Pereira, 54, who was arrested with the man on Thursday, was brought before another court in southern Spain on Saturday.

Police said the two were suspected of trying to extort money from the McCanns with an offer to provide information about their missing four-year-old daughter.

Madeleine disappeared May 3 after her parents left her and her brother and sister, two-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.

A month ago, Portuguese police said they were searching for a white man between 35 and 40. They said the man had been wearing a dark jacket and beige trousers on the day the girl disappeared, and was spotted possibly carrying the girl near where she had vanished.