Was Maria kidnapped from Kansas City? Parents of baby Lisa Irwin contact Greek authorities over similarities between gypsy camp girl and what their missing daughter would look like today

Baby Lisa Irwin vanished from her home in Kansas City on October 2011



Her parents, Jeremy Irwin, 31, and Deborah Bradley, 30, have contacted Greek authorities following the rescue of Maria from Greek gypsy camp

Maria is now at the center of an international appeal to uncover her identity

Attorney for Irwin and Bradley confirmed they are one of four 'significant' leads in the United States out of thousands of enquiries



Taken: Lisa Irwin was taken from her parents home in Kansas City in October 2011 and they have now expressed their hope that the little girl known as Maria rescued in Greece might be her

A couple who had their daughter taken from their Kansas City home more than two years ago have revealed that they have contacted Greek authorities hoping that the missing girl known only as Maria could be theirs.



As the search for Maria's identity widened into an international appeal, Jeremy Irwin, 31, and Deborah Bradley, 30, who lost their daughter Lisa in October 2011, were reported by Greek authorities to be one the eight leads - four of which are from the U.S. - out of thousands they are taking extremely seriously.



Attorney John Picerno, who has represented Irwin and Bradley since their daughter disappeared from her bed after an apparent home invasion, confirmed they were one of four American inquiries about Maria, but refused to go into further detail.



Speaking to the Daily Telegraph , Picerno said, 'We inquire about every child that is found and fits the age profile of Lisa.



'We investigate all leads. I don't have any further comment at this stage.'



Little Lisa Irwin's disappearance hit the headlines across the nation in October 2011 when she was reported missing by her father when she was only 11 months old.



She would be three-years old in November and her eyes bare more than a passing resemblance to those of Maria, the girl rescued from a Greek gypsy camp in Tabakou on Wednesday.

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Father and daughter: This is Jeremy Irwin and his daughter Lisa before she was abducted at the age of 10 months from her home in Kansas City, Missouri

Pictured: Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40 with husband Christos Salis and little Maria, the Roma couple under arrest in Greece over the alleged abduction of Maria, the blond girl discovered by police at a Roma camp in Farsala, near Larissa, central Greece

Age-progression: On the left is how the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children imagines Lisa would look and on the right is little Maria from Greece

However, it is thought that while the two little girls share physical similarities, Maria is estimated to be around four or five years old although no official age has been confirmed.



KMBC, the local news station in Kansas City, produced in conjunction with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children an age-progression image, which projects what Lisa may look like now.

And last year, a tantalizing clue was brought to the attention of the Today Show.

In early November, 2011, just over a month after Lisa vanished, Irwin said his debit card was stolen.



The card was suspended after he noticed a fraudulent charge for $69.04 made to a British website that advertises a service to legally change your name or your child’s name online.

Fraud: One month after his daughter's disappearance Jeremy Irwin discovered his credit card had been used to pay money to a British website that alters names by deed-poll

Meanwhile, today in Greece, Hristos Salis, 39, and Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, the gypsy couple accused of abducting Maria appeared in court to be charged with child abduction and forging birth documents.



Her case has attracted global attention, with thousands of calls from people who believe they may know her identity.



The child – nicknamed ‘the blonde angel’ by the Greek media – was discovered last week when police raided a gipsy camp. DNA evidence proved she was not related to the couple.



Abducting a child under the age of 14 carries a maximum sentence of ten years.



The forgery charges relate to fake child birth certificates and two false identities used by Dimopoulou.

Baby blue eyes: Jeremy Irwin and Deborah Bradley have notified authorities in Greece that their Lisa could be little Maria



Smiles: Deborah kisses her little girl Lisa before her disappearance in October 2011

Back in the United States, Lisa's disappearance was not without controversy though - Bradley claimed that an intruder must have taken her daughter from her bedroom while she was asleep in the same room - having consumed a large amount of alcohol.



A witness said that he saw a man carrying around a baby in a diaper down the street around the time Lisa went missing



Earlier this month, before the rescue of Maria from the camp in northern Greece, Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin held a candle-lit vigil to mark the second anniversary of her disappearance.



Despite the family's determination, authorities in Kansas City said before this last week, tips into the disappearance have waned since the months after she vanished on October 4, 2011.



'I cannot force the people who know where Lisa is and who might have her into telling us. I have no control over that,' Bradley told the Kansas City Star.



'You do what you can for your baby, because it is your job as a parent to protect your child, and I wasn’t able to protect her from the bad guys.'



Lisa was 10-months-old when her father returned from a late work shift to find the front door open, the lights on, Bradley asleep, his daughter's bedroom window open and her crib empty.



They believe that someone broke into the home and snatched the baby while Bradley slept, and have said they think someone is bringing up the little girl as their own.

Vanished: Deborah said that her child was taken from her house after she had fallen asleep after drinking too much

'When somebody abducts an infant, they don't take them to hurt them,' she said. 'Wherever she is, she is being loved and taken well care of, because they went through a hell of a lot of trouble to get her.'



She said that she knows people have pointed fingers at them for the disappearance but she maintained their innocence - and said it will be proven when the little girl returns to them.



A private investigator continues to work on the case, and the family still offers a $100,000 reward for anyone who has information that could bring the baby home.



Tragically for Irwin and Bradley, they have also revealed that her room remains virtually untouched two years after she disappeared without trace.



Both Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin have tried to keep a high media profile in the two years since their Lisa's disappearance.



Initially, police assumed that they were involved in their daughter's abduction and told Bradley that she failed a lie detector test.

Appeals: John Picerno, (left) who has represented Irwin and Bradley (center) appear on the Today Show in 2012 to appeal for the return of their child Lisa

'They said I failed a polygraph test,' Bradley, 25, told the Associated Press in the immediate weeks after Lisa's October, 2011 disappearance.



'And I continued to say that's not possible because I don't know where she's at and I did not do this.'



They said police have treated them like suspects and that Bradley in particular has been preparing for the possibility of charges being filed against her.



The mother said detectives told her: 'You did it. You did it. And we have nothing.'



The parents say they discovered their front door unlocked, a window open and house lights blazing, lending credence to the theory that the baby may have been snatched by an intruder.



'The main problem I think that we're facing is that everybody (else) has an alibi,' Irwin said.



'I was at work. I've been cleared. All these other people we were worried about ... the FBI said they've been cleared. The only one you can't clear is the mother that's at home when it happens `cause there's nobody else there.'

