A British man briefly detained by Portuguese police as a suspect in the disappearance of a missing 4-year-old British girl claims he is a scapegoat.
Robert Murat told one journalist late Tuesday that the police suspicions have ruined his life.
Ironically, another journalist had brought him to the police's attention in the case of Madeleine McCann, who vanished May 3.
The journalist told Sky News that Murat, who reportedly speaks fluent Portuguese and offered his services as a translator to international media covering the story, had been acting suspiciously and had encouraged them to follow leads suggesting the girl had been taken to Spain.
Murat lives about 150 metres from the hotel where Madeleine had been staying with her family in Praia da Luz, Algarve. His 71-year-old mother has lived in Portugal for 40 years.
After the abduction, she had set up a booth urging people to come forward if they had any information.
Murat, who is formerly from Norfolk, spoke to reporters throughout the search for the missing child, saying she looked like his own daughter in England.
Detectives searched five houses on Monday, inspector Olegario de Sousa told a news conference.
Police seized the computer and cellphone of the 33-year-old suspect who was one of three people questioned Monday after investigators searched a villa near the hotel.
"We hope they throw more light on the case," De Sousa said.
In Portugal, police can identify a suspect without arresting them, which is the first step toward formal charges.
The law is designed to give the suspect access to more legal rights by granting the person in question access to potential evidence and allowing them to mount a legal defence.
Experts contend the chances of finding Madeleine alive are slim at this point in the investigation. The first two to four hours in the search for an abducted child are the most crucial and the 4-year-old has been missing for 12 days.
"Really this case boils down to two options: That this child was abducted to be sold or given to a family that was looking for a child, or probably the worst has happened and she has been killed," Bruce Smollet, retired staff inspector with Toronto Police Services, told CTV on Tuesday.
Madeleine vanished after her parents left her, and her brother and sister -- both aged 2 -- alone while they went to a nearby restaurant within their hotel complex.
British media have reported $2.6 million pounds (Cdn$6.1 million dollars), have been contributed to a reward fund from citizens and British celebrities such as J.K. Rowling and Sir Richard Branson.
"We have brought in our lawyers to help us decide how best to use these offers of support to help us find Madeleine," Madeleine's father Gerry McCann told reporters outside their hotel.
The McCanns said they would not return to the U.K. until their daughter was found.
Portuguese police have ended their ground search, but local citizens are still out looking on a daily basis.
With a report from CTV's Tom Kennedy and files from the Associated Press
