Break in Case? Portugal Police ID Suspect in Girl's Kidnapping

May 15, 2007 — -- Police have pinpointed a suspect in the disappearance of 4-year-old Madeleine McCann.

On Monday, the search for the British girl extended to Robert Murat and the villa he shares with his mother 100 yards from the Portuguese resort where McCann was taken 12 days ago.

Murat was questioned but later released, police said Tuesday. He reportedly offered to serve as a translator with the Portuguese authorities, saying he wanted to help because he has a daughter who looks just like McCann.

"There is a suspect," said a spokeswoman for the Portugese judicial police.

Case Sparks Debate Among Parents

As McCann's devastated parents anxiously await a break in the case, their decision to leave the 4-year-old girl and 2-year-old twin siblings alone in their hotel room while they went to dinner has set off an international debate.

Some parents sympathize with the McCanns, saying they've done similar things.

"There are times I don't want to take her out from the car seat, have the car running, lock the key up and run to the store real quick," one mom told ABC News.

But turning around for even a second can leave children vulnerable. In Texas, Nancy Chavez was nabbed from her car seat in a Wal-Mart parking lot while her mother stepped away to return a shopping cart

Four-year-old Jessica Cortez went missing in a Los Angeles park when her parents weren't looking. Both of these children were reunited with their parents days later, but their cases prove that the unthinkable can happen in the blink of an eye -- even when children are safely tucked in bed like McCann.

"I think there are a lot of parents who have had the experience of having their kid sound asleep and think, 'OK, well maybe I can just run up the street to borrow that cup of sugar or whatever it is' -- especially once they are asleep," said "Good Morning America" parenting contributor Ann Pleshette Murphy.

There may be cultural differences at play as well.

In 1997, Danish mother Annette Sorensen was visiting New York when she left her child in a stroller in front of a restaurant while she went inside. The child was fine, but the mother was arrested. Her defense? She left her child alone all the time in Denmark.

Catherine, an American mom living in Europe who asked that her real name not be revealed, admits that she's left her son alone in a hotel room for less than five minutes. She said it's common for European parents to be more trusting than their American counterparts.

"I feel much safer in Europe," she said. "I'm much more on guard when I'm back home."

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.