Madeleine McCann Areguá Sightings: Where Green Eyes Do Not Stand Out

Summary: Madeleine McCann Areguá sightings take place near where green eyes quickly blend among German descendants in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay.

Playa de Areguá, Lago Ypacaraí, Paraguay; Saturday, Sep 29, 2012, 22:41: Leandro Neumann Ciuffo, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

A charming town center and its picturesque outskirts, just 12.44 miles (20.02 kilometers) from Paraguay’s national capital of Asunción, are possible locations of Madeleine McCann Areguá sightings in January or February 2016.

The town becomes likely and unlikely in its possibilities as a hiding place for the blue-green- and green-eyed, fair-complected, chestnut-tipped blonde missing since May 3, 2007. The identification of Areguá as a place of interest comes from an advertisement in the local newspaper and an interview with the television channel ABC Color. The quarter-page advertisement and the live interview, by British private detective Miraz Ullah Ali Isa, describe Madeleine McCann as “living in Areguá, possibly with a woman.” P.I. Isa explains: “We think that two men were involved [in the abduction] and that they smuggled her out of the country [Portugal] using a boat.”

Areguá fits into two different urban models since P.I. Isa mentions that “I’m surprised that the city is so small, I thought it would be bigger.”

Sebastian Jara of Paraguay Interpol gives the different perspective that “Areguá is a very large and very populated city and this research caught us by surprise.”

Population statistics have 2016 projections ranging from 35,313 to 70,490 inhabitants, depending upon the date of the estimate and the inclusion, or not, of outlying residents. Population size perhaps is less important than the demographic composition since Areguá is a meeting-place of artisans, artists, historic preservationists, intellectuals, ranchers, strawberry cultivators and writers.

Cultural legacies join to keep Areguá’s people focused more upon colonial architecture, Mbyá Guaycuru basket-making, necklace-designing and wood-carving and Paraguayan literature, than Madeleine McCann Areguá sightings.

Cerro Koi, a hexagonal sandstone formation, found only in Areguá and two other places on Earth, is a tourist draw: Stefan Krasowski, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Tourists know of Areguá as paved with cobblestones, preserved in mansions and warmed by temperatures from 0 to 32 degrees Celsius (40 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit).

The town looks onto Cerro Koi, host with Canada and South Africa to honeycomb-like sandstone, and onto Ypacaraí, one of Paraguay’s two main lakes with Ypoá. The Avenida del Lago (Lake Avenue), from Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (Our Lady of Candlemas), makes up part of Paraguayan Parliament-declared National Patrimony since 1997. El Castillo Carlota Palmerola (The Carlota Palmerola Castle), home of humanitarian Carlota Ayala de Palmerola (Nov. 3, 1853-May 27, 1951), numbers among Areguá’s top tourist sites.

Cultural center calendar of events offers art and artisanry-related exhibits and expositions year-round even though January through April may be less eventful because of heavier rainfall.

Areguá, Guaraní for “those from above,” prompts thoughts in Paraguayan minds of Gabriel Casaccia Bibolini (April 20, 1907-Nov. 24, 1980), modern Paraguayan narrative pioneer and novelist. Hermann Bruno Guggiari Brun’s (March 20, 1924-Jan. 1, 2012) metal-and-stone sculpture atop the grave of Gabriel Casaccia, author of La Babosa, qualifies as an Areguá icon.

Historic roles as summer residence for Asunción’s literati, bi-cultural and bi-lingual in Guaraní and Spanish, result in Areguá’s proximity to routes into Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Paraguayan happenings generally stay inside landlocked Paraguay, just as the information source for the Madeleine McCann Areguá sightings remains mysterious, unknown to all save P.I. Isa.

A blue-green and green-eyed blonde tends to stand out in Latin America, except in Torreón, Mexico, and in German-settled parts of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay.

Madeleine McCann has blonde hair and differently colored green eyes: Monumental AM 1080 @AM_1080, via Twitter March 8, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Playa de Areguá, Lago Ypacaraí, Paraguay; Saturday, Sep 29, 2012, 22:41: Leandro Neumann Ciuffo, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Playa_de_Areguá_(8039414365).jpg;
Leandro Neumann Ciuffo (Leandro's World Tour), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/leandrociuffo/8039414365/

Cerro Koi, a hexagonal sandstone formation, found only in Areguá and two other places on Earth, is a tourist draw: Stefan Krasowski, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/rapidtravelchai/7161654579/

Madeleine McCann has blonde hair and differently colored green eyes: Monumental AM 1080 @AM_1080, via Twitter March 8, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/AM_1080/status/707244029222789120

For further information:

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 March 2016. "Coloboma Eyed Madeleine McCann Lookalike Sighting in Areguá, Paraguay." Earth and Space News. Thursday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/03/coloboma-eyed-madeleine-mccann.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 March 2016. “Madeleine McCann Sightings in Paraguay in January or February 2016.” Earth and Space News.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/03/madeleine-mccann-sightings-in-paraguay.html

Monumental AM 1080 @AM_1080. 8 March 2016. "Interpol dice que Madeleine McCann no está en Paraguay, luego que surgieran rumores de su presencia en Areguá." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/AM_1080/status/707244029222789120

Robson, Steve. 10 March 2016. “Explained: How Bizarre Advert in Local Paper Sparked ‘Madeleine McCann in Paraguay’ Frenzy.” Mirror Online > News > World News > Madeleine McCann.
Available @ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/explained-how-bizarre-advert-local-7524180

Willis, Charlotte. 10 March 2016. “Madeleine McCann ‘Paraguay Sighting’ Debunked by Authorities.” News.com.au > World > Europe.
Available @ http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/manhunt-underway-as-madeleine-mccann-seen-in-paraguay/news-story/5c6e499bc67915955743cb1e939bea92