Parents who will never give up quest of finding her alive
The Mccanns admitted they had been shocked at the online abuse, saying they had seen the worst and the best of human nature
MADELEINE MCCANN’S parents reacted to reports that a new suspect has been identified in the disappearance of their daughter by vowing to “never give up hope” of finding her alive.
As their 13-year quest to uncover the truth took a fresh turn, Kate and Gerry Mccann said: “All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice.”
Since her disappearance, they used television, radio and social media in their campaign to find their daughter. Last month, they said they were “buoyed” by the news that a Chinese family had been reunited with their missing son after 32 years.
As they wished the family well, the Mccanns recalled the day their “perfect nuclear family” was hit by “horror”.
On May 3, 2007, the couple from Rothley, Leics, left their three children asleep in their Algarve holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, while they dined with friends at a tapas restaurant in the holiday complex.
Mr Mccann found nothing amiss when he checked on the youngsters around 9pm, but when his wife returned an hour later she discovered three-year-old Madeleine was missing.
Driven by an “almost feral reaction”, they carried out a desperate search and raised the alarm, but from that night their lives would never be the same.
The couple are both from close-knit working-class Catholic families and have found solace through their relatives and their faith in the years since the disappearance. Mr Mccann, from Glasgow, and his wife, from Liverpool, met while working as junior doctors at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow.
Mrs Mccann stopped work to focus on the campaign and her two other children, twins Amelie and Sean, aged two when Madeleine disappeared.
She poured her energy into charity work, including as an ambassador for the Missing People charity, before returning to medicine.
Mr Mccann is a professor of cardiac imaging at Leicester University and a consultant cardiologist who has been open about his mental health struggles since Madeleine’s disappearance.
Over the years, the Mccanns had public appeals, won high-profile backers and saw millions of pounds in public money spent on investigations, all to no avail. In 2017, the Mccanns admitted they had been shocked at the level of online abuse, saying they had seen “the worst and the best of human nature”.
They endured a libel battle against Goncalo Amaral, the Portuguese detective who led the initial inquiry, after he alleged in a book that the girl had died in the holiday flat.
Since 2007, the Mccanns have built a bond with locals in Praia de Luz. In 2017, it was revealed that residents had prayed for Madeleine every Sunday since May 3, 2007. Mrs Mccann also disclosed she continued to buy birthday and Christmas gifts for Madeleine.