London (CNN) -- Police investigating the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine McCann from a holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007 say they are hunting a man who assaulted five other British girls in resorts on the Algarve between 2004 and 2006. The announcement is the latest development in a long-running and controversial hunt for the missing girl. When and where was Madeleine last seen? Madeleine McCann was a few days shy of her fourth birthday when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007. Her parents, Kate and Gerry, had left Madeleine and her younger twin siblings, Sean and Amelie, asleep while they went for dinner with friends at a tapas restaurant nearby.
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Madeleine McCann, 3, vanished from family's holiday apartment in Portugal in May 2007
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Her parents were eating at a restaurant nearby with friends when she disappeared
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Case sparked worldwide interest; sightings of Madeleine reported across the globe
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Portuguese police recently reopened investigation following UK police inquiries
Police in @placeholder later said they would reopen the case.