Couple in court charged with abducting mystery girl

Mike Gallagher

Oct 21, 2013 - 15:53

Oct 21, 2013 - 16:06

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Couple in court charged with abducting mystery girl

Accused: Christos Salis, 39, right, and Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, pose with the girl known as 'Maria' in the Larissa police station in Greece after she was found living with them. They have been accused of abducting her

A couple are appearing in a Greek court charged with abducting a mystery four-year-old girl, known only as Maria.

The pair, named locally as Hristos Salis, 39, and Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, were arrested after the young girl was found during a raid on a Roma camp in central Greece last week.

Their appearance in court came as South Yorkshire police said there is ‘no direct correlation" between Maria and missing British boy Ben Needham.

Sheffield toddler Ben disappeared in 1995 while on holiday on the Greek island of Kos.

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Charged: Christos Salis claimed that he adopted the little girl after her mother was unable to care for her

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No resemblance: Police said they were suspicious as the girl did not look like Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40

Last week"s discovery of the blue-eyed and blonde four-year-old girl had given fresh hope to Ben"s family, with his sister Leighanna telling the Sunday Mirror she wanted her family"s DNA released so that children such as Maria could be tested against it, in case they might be a relative of her brother.

Little Maria was found in a squalid camp near the town of Farsala in Greece after police raided it looking for drugs and weapons.

Suspicions were raised due to her appearance being so different from those who claimed to be her relatives.

A couple were arrested for abduction as DNA tests proved she was not their child.

A worldwide hunt has since been launched to find the biological parents of Maria.

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Four-year-old Maria was found living with a Roma couple in a gypsy camp last week (Picture: Reuters)

The charity looking after Maria, Smile of the Child, said it has received over 8,000 calls and messages in relation to the girl"s mystery family, though many of these lacked specific details.

Relatives of missing children have been buoyed by her discovery, including the parents of Madeleine McCann.

Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann, said: ‘They have always maintained that until there is evidence to prove otherwise, missing children can still be out there waiting to be found."