Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Church service to remember Maddie
A SPECIAL service was due to be held today for missing people in the Portuguese village where Madeleine McCann disappeared 10 years ago.
Madeleine was aged three when she vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz at about 9pm on May 3 in 2007.
The service, expected to last for about 30 minutes, was due to take place at the Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz at the time she went missing.
A public gathering was also expected to take place in her home village in Rothley, Leicestershire, to mark the 10th anniversary of her disappearance.
In previous years, villagers have joined members of the McCann family near the local war memorial on May 3 to offer their support in the continued search for Madeleine.
Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, have vowed to do “whatever it takes for as long as it takes” to find their daughter, who would now be nearly 14.
Mrs McCann said: “My hope for Madeleine being out there is no less than it was almost 10 years ago.”
Speaking ahead of the anniversary, the couple described it as a “horrible marker of time, stolen time”.
Mrs McCann said: “We just have to go with the process and follow it through — whatever it takes for as long as it takes.
“There is still hope that we can find Madeleine.”
Asked how the family would get through the anniversary, she added: “Every day is another day without Madeleine.
“I think we’ll get by as we have any other year really.
“We’ll be surrounded by family and friends.
“Obviously we’ll be there remembering Madeleine, as we always have.”
Scotland Yard said its officers are still pursuing “critical” leads to trace Madeleine, with officers receiving information on a daily basis.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said there are “significant investigative avenues” that are of “great interest” to both the UK and Portuguese teams.
“All the different hypotheses have to remain open,” he added.
In 2013, four people were identified as suspects but no evidence was found to implicate them and they have since been ruled out of the inquiry.