Is this Maria's REAL family? Bulgarian mother with ten children, including two albinos, is quizzed by police who suspect she gave away baby in Greece
A couple believed to be the parents of the ‘blonde angel’ found in a Greek gipsy camp have been taken into custody in Bulgaria.
Bulgarians Sasha Ruseva, 35, and her husband Atana Rusev, 37, registered the birth of a child four years ago at a Greek hospital an hour from the settlement where the blue-eyed child was found.
This morning they were arrested in a joint Bulgarian-Greek operation near the town of Stara Zagora, central Bulgaria.
Children of Sasha Ruseva pose for photographs at their home today, including two believed to be albino (right)
Pictures from the Bulgarian village show the family have several children of a similar complexion to Maria – the blonde, blue-eyed child found in the Greek settlement a week ago. Two are believed to be albino.
The Greek Roma couple who posed as Maria’s parents for four years - Hristos Salis, 39 and Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40 - are believed to have bought the child for £850. They are currently in custody awaiting trial.
The Mail has seen a copy of a birth certificate, stating that the Mrs Ruseva gave birth to a girl on January 31, 2009 at the general hospital in Lamia, 45 miles from Farsala, where Maria was born.
The document lists no name for the baby – who had not yet been baptised – but the birth date matches that given by Salis and Dimolpoulou to police.
The discovery of Maria has sparked international interest
The parents’ identity cards, also seen by the Mail, shows they were born near Stara Zagora.
The Bulgarian couple were married in 1996 and had two other children prior to the baby at the centre of the case.
Significantly, both Lamia, where the child was born, and Nova Zagora, close to the area the Bulgarian couple hail from, are known to have been hubs for baby trafficking in the past.
Police suspect the Greek couple who posed as Maria's parents bought the child as an investment - raising her to profit from the large dowry she would fetch upon marriage.
Mrs Ruseva is now awaiting the results of a DNA tests to determine whether the little blonde girl is hers.
Maria's discovery at a Roma camp has given hope to parents with abducted children, including Gerry and Kate McCann.
But documents suggest Mrs Ruseva may have given the girl away after she lied on birth documents, meaning her daughter was never officially recorded.
Paperwork from Lamia show that Mrs Ruseva gave birth to a girl on January 31, 2009.
That is the same date given as Maria's birthday by the Roma couple who the youngster was living with.
Mrs Ruseva tried to register her daughter 10 days after she gave birth.
In a document submitted to authorities, she claimed that she was unmarried and did not know who the father of the child was.
But an identity check at the time showed that Mrs Ruseva was married and had two children to another husband.
A note was put on her application which read: 'Warning – she is married'
Charged: Hristos Salis (right) and his wife, Eleftheria Dimopoulou (left), said they were given Maria, centre, by an impoverished Bulgarian woman who handed over the child, saying that she could not afford to support her
Charges: Hristos Salis, 39, left, and Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, right, appeared at a courthouse in Larissa to answer charges of abducting a minor and holding false papers. They are pictured here last Thursday
'NB: she is married although at the hospital stated she was unmarried but she gave her married name – we are awaiting judicial decision.' There is no record of that decision being reached, however.
Greek police are now working with Bulgarian colleagues to determine if Mrs Ruseva's case is connected to Maria.
Neighbours of the Bulgarian woman said she has at least four children who are 'very blonde' like Maria.
The revelation tallies with the story told by the Roma couple Christos Salis, 39, and Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, who were found to be caring for Maria.
They have been charged with child abduction after a raid on the Farsala settlement last week but deny the allegations.
The pair claim that Maria was handed to them when she was just weeks old by a poor Bulgarian woman who said that she could not afford to support the child.
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