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Missing girl hunt hits cyber world

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- British police plan to post pictures of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann in virtual world Second Life, a UK-based child protection law enforcement organization says.

The virtual posters of the four-year-old, who vanished in Portugal nearly six weeks ago, will appear in prominent locations in the online world.

Officers are in talks with Internet-based Second Life, Britain's Press Association reported Tuesday.

Second Life is a virtual world, sometimes described as a game, in which people control "avatars" to meet people, fool around and even run businesses.

Jim Gamble, of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), told PA the move demonstrated the commitment of police to pursue the case.

Traditional posters appealing for information from the Portuguese resort where Madeleine disappeared have been translated into several languages, Gamble said.

Tourists who stayed at the Portuguese resort from where she was abducted have been urged in the past three weeks to hand over any holiday photographs which might contain clues to her kidnapper.

British detectives have been using advanced facial recognition software to scan the pictures and pass on any useful information to Portuguese police.

Gamble said 1,000 images have been uploaded by British and some German holiday makers who visited the resort in the two weeks before Madeleine's disappearance.

Madeleine was snatched from her family's holiday apartment in southern Portugal on May 3 while her parents, Gerry and Kate, ate at a restaurant only 100 meters away.

The McCanns traveled to Morocco Monday where they met top government officials as part of their campaign to publicize their daughter's disappearance.

"Kate and I believe, after the meetings today with officials from the government in Morocco and non-government organizations, that if Madeleine is here in Morocco, then she will be found," Gerry told a news conference Monday.

The McCanns have met Pope Benedict to publicize their appeal and traveled to Spain, Berlin and Amsterdam to meet tourists who may have seen Madeleine during their holidays in Portugal.

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