bessie
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'The Smile of the Child' charity released this photo of the girl, now in its care,
as Greek authorities appeal for international assistance to identify her.
Roma couple explains their side of mystery girl story
Greece Trying to Identify Girl Found in Gypsy CampBy Michelle Kosinski, NBC News Correspondent
October 23, 2013
LARISSA, Greece – The lawyer for the Roma couple accused of abducting the little blond, blue-eyed girl who has become known around the world as “Maria” says her clients say the girl’s real mother is a Bulgarian Roma prostitute.
Christos Salis, 39, and Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, said they were Maria's parents until DNA tests revealed they were not biologically related.
Now the couple says that a prostitute and her pimp/boyfriend, “Michaelis,” were looking for a home for the unwanted baby among local Roma families and they could not resist the urge to help the baby, according to their lawyer Marietta Palavra, who spoke to NBC News in an exclusive interview.
Thread #1ATHENS, Greece October 18, 2013 (AP)
By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS Associated Press
Around 4 years old and going by the name Maria, the girl looked nothing like the couple she lived with, officials said Friday. DNA tests proved she wasn't their child, and further investigation raised even more suspicions: authorities allege the mother claimed to have given birth to six children in a total of less than 10 months, while 10 of the 14 children the couple registered as their own are unaccounted for.
As Greek officials now try to figure out the girl's true identity and whether the couple was linked to child trafficking rings, experts are using the case to point out the severe weaknesses in the country's birth registration system.
The child was found Wednesday near Farsala in central Greece. Police say they also found drugs and unregistered firearms in other parts of the Gypsy — or Roma — settlement, which is about 280 kilometers (170 miles) north of Athens.