Spanish police last night refused to confirm reports that they have identified a potential suspect in the disappearance of Irish girl Amy Fitzpatrick (15), last seen on January 1st.
Local Spanish media have reported that police are keen to interview an elderly man in connection with the search for the Dublin teenager.
It is understood that details of the man, who is said to have been infatuated with the girl, emerged in lengthy interviews conducted in the past few days with Amy's friends and family.
Details of the alleged lead in the case were published in yesterday's Malaga Hoynewspaper. However, a police source refused to confirm the report.
"We are interested in talking to as many known acquaintances as possible, even if only to rule them out of our inquiries."
Meanwhile, Amy's older brother, Dean, has made a direct plea to his sister to return home. In an open letter he urged Amy not to be frightened to return home if she has run away.
"Please, please come home Amy, I don't know if you ran away, but if you have just give us a text or something to say you're all right," he wrote.
It has also emerged that the translation of the contents of the Dublin teenager's computer is delaying progress.
Officers have managed to recover many temporary internet files held on the computer but need to have all relevant messages and web pages translated from English before they can be certain the contents are of interest to the investigation.
The Spanish government's top official in Andalusia, Juan José López-Garzón, said that yesterday's one-hour interview with Dean (17) had shed little light on the disappearance of the girl.