The McCanns vow to continue search for daughter/The Sun

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/4298857/The-McCanns-vow-to-continue-search-for-Maddie-five-years-after-she-disappeared.html



Five years after she disappeared there’s little sign of Maddie in Praia da Luz, just note saying...'Still missing, still missed'




Five years after she disappeared there’s little sign of Maddie in Praia da Luz, just note saying...'Still missing, still missed'


The McCanns vow to continue search for daughter


From ANTONELLA LAZZERI, in Praia da Luz, Portugal


AT a whitewashed church in a Portuguese village, a tiny card displays three photos of a little girl.

It is tucked away in the display box outside the church in Praia da Luz, with the words: “Still Missing — Still Missed”. The faded message alongside it reads: “Please pray for me.”

Five years on from her abduction, the card, at the church of Our Lady of Light, is the only sign that Madeleine McCann was ever here.

She was snatched from her bed at a holiday apartment at the Mark Warner Ocean Club in the centre of the village on May 3, 2007.

Her parents Kate and Gerry McCann were dining at a nearby tapas bar. When Kate went to check on Madeleine and her two-year-old twin brother and sister, Sean and Amelie, the little girl had gone.

It was the start of a nightmare for her parents that has lasted five years — and for the world, the beginning of one of the most puzzling mysteries of all time.
Number 5a, the apartment from where Madeleine was snatched just days before her fourth birthday, remains locked and shuttered. All attempts to sell it by its British owner have failed.

Kate, 44, and Gerry, 43, regularly return to the tranquil resort. Kate says it is where she feels closest to Madeleine, who would now be almost nine. It is where she last saw her — asleep in her bed clutching her favourite toy, Cuddle Cat.
The McCanns are well known in the resort. But few people in Praia da Luz want to talk about them.

Although most locals feel immense sympathy for them, some believe the abduction of Madeleine has had a terrible effect on the village.

One said: “We used to be thriving. In summer, streets were packed with holidaymakers. Now, not so much.

“Everyone in the world now knows the name Praia da Luz — but for the wrong reason. All they remember is Madeleine McCann.”

Many others still blame the McCanns for leaving their children alone. One said: “We do not even speak to each other about Madeleine McCann. No one wants to talk about it. Before, we were known for being a beautiful place, now it is always ‘Madeleine, Madeleine, Madeleine’. ”

Expats Barry and Julie Halls, originally from Essex, recalled Madeleine’s disappearance this week: “We were just coming up to high season and the place was empty.”
“There was a stigma attached to the resort for a long time.”

On Wednesday, in the church of Our Lady of Light, prayers have been said for Madeleine. Around 30 people attended a service at which they were given the new picture of how Madeleine would look today.

A photo of her was projected on to the church wall and a candle was lit — the same candle that has been lit on the 50th day, the 100th, and all anniversaries of Madeleine’s disappearance.

Father Haynes Hubbard, who led the prayers, said: “We light it again as a sign of renewed hope to find Madeleine.” He and his wife Susan — who both moved to Portugal from Canada — have become close friends to Kate and Gerry. In the early days after their daughter’s abduction, he gave them a key to the church and they would go to pray alone there.

Missing ... how Madeleine may look now at 9
Now Kate often goes to stay with the couple, who have also visited the McCanns at their home in Rothley, Leicestershire.

Father Hubbard says that despite the lack of posters of Madeleine in the village, to his congregation she is not forgotten.

Referring to how his churchmembers helped Kate and Gerry after Madeleine vanished, he said: “We were there to be with, to cry with.

“We didn’t want to ask them questions, we just wanted to help them.”

He added: “There are some naysayers who claim things have changed for the worse. I don’t accept that. I have children, and they are growing up here fine. Luz is a lovely place. Happiness still happens here. Grief still happens here. I hope Praia da Luz can be remembered not for what happened to (Kate and Gerry McCann), but what we did for them.”

Kate and Gerry have searched incessantly for Madeleine.

They launched a global manhunt, funded by public donations that at one stage topped £2million.

In 2008, the Portuguese police shelved the case but the McCanns campaigned for it to be reopened — and for the British police to conduct a review.
That review was granted after the couple penned an open letter in The Sun last May, begging David Cameron to help them.

As they have learnt in the past 12 months, the process is long and involved. But it has given them hope — and hope is all they have to cling to.

Asked recently how long they will search, Kate said firmly: “As long as it takes — no parent could give up on their child.”

Kate, who worked as a locum GP, has never gone back to work.

For much of the past five years she has spent every day going through police files, desperately trying to find the one clue that will reunite her with her daughter.

Last year she wrote a book simply called Madeleine which was serialised in The Sun.
For many couples, the trauma of the past five years could have driven them apart.
But the McCanns say their relationship has never foundered.

In a recent interview, Gerry, a cardiologist, said: “We’re very lucky in that our relationship was very good, very strong before this happened and I’m not sure we’d have survived if that wasn’t the case.”

As the McCanns have suffered — in public and in private — the man many hold responsible for bungling the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance has mercilessly cashed in on the little girl.

Goncalo Amaral led the woefully inadequate Portuguese police probe.
He was sacked from the case and after his retirement wrote a book, The Truth Of The Lie, in which he asserted that Madeleine was dead and that her parents had lied about her abduction.

The McCanns won a court case banning the book, although this was later overturned.

They are currently waiting for a £1 million libel case against him to be heard.
But unbowed as ever, Amaral travelled to Praia da Luz recently for a TV show in which he again attacked the McCanns.

Standing outside apartment 5a, he asserted that Madeleine had died in the apartment and that for the past five years her parents have maintained an elaborate charade of lies.

When the TV host remonstrated with him, the vile ex-cop replied: “I do not know why he (Gerry McCann) says there must be a body. In order to prove the child is dead it is not necessary to have a body.

“In this case, if we could abstract ourselves of the name of the child that disappeared, of the child’s parents and just look at the facts in an objective manner and move forward with the investigation, facts would speak for themselves!”
For Kate and Gerry, his disgusting accusations will be no surprise.

At least they can take comfort from one of his other assertions — that the truth about what happened to Madeleine will only be learnt if the Portuguese police investigation is reopened.

It is something they have demanded for nearly four years.

Amaral claimed: “There is no point in saying that the child is dead, or that the child is alive.

“What we need is to work the investigation and carry it out to the end, something that was not done.

“The investigation of this case can be considered as an unfinished investigation that needs to be completed.”

For Kate and Gerry that reinvestigation could hold the key to them being reunited with Madeleine — or at least having the comfort of knowing what happened to her.
It would also show Amaral’s accusations as being what they are — evil lies.


From ANTONELLA LAZZERI, in Praia da Luz, Portugal


AT a whitewashed church in a Portuguese village, a tiny card displays three photos of a little girl.

It is tucked away in the display box outside the church in Praia da Luz, with the words: “Still Missing — Still Missed”. The faded message alongside it reads: “Please pray for me.”

Five years on from her abduction, the card, at the church of Our Lady of Light, is the only sign that Madeleine McCann was ever here.

She was snatched from her bed at a holiday apartment at the Mark Warner Ocean Club in the centre of the village on May 3, 2007.

Her parents Kate and Gerry McCann were dining at a nearby tapas bar. When Kate went to check on Madeleine and her two-year-old twin brother and sister, Sean and Amelie, the little girl had gone.

It was the start of a nightmare for her parents that has lasted five years — and for the world, the beginning of one of the most puzzling mysteries of all time.
Number 5a, the apartment from where Madeleine was snatched just days before her fourth birthday, remains locked and shuttered. All attempts to sell it by its British owner have failed.

Kate, 44, and Gerry, 43, regularly return to the tranquil resort. Kate says it is where she feels closest to Madeleine, who would now be almost nine. It is where she last saw her — asleep in her bed clutching her favourite toy, Cuddle Cat.
The McCanns are well known in the resort. But few people in Praia da Luz want to talk about them.

Although most locals feel immense sympathy for them, some believe the abduction of Madeleine has had a terrible effect on the village.

One said: “We used to be thriving. In summer, streets were packed with holidaymakers. Now, not so much.

“Everyone in the world now knows the name Praia da Luz — but for the wrong reason. All they remember is Madeleine McCann.”

Many others still blame the McCanns for leaving their children alone. One said: “We do not even speak to each other about Madeleine McCann. No one wants to talk about it. Before, we were known for being a beautiful place, now it is always ‘Madeleine, Madeleine, Madeleine’. ”

Expats Barry and Julie Halls, originally from Essex, recalled Madeleine’s disappearance this week: “We were just coming up to high season and the place was empty.”
“There was a stigma attached to the resort for a long time.”

On Wednesday, in the church of Our Lady of Light, prayers have been said for Madeleine. Around 30 people attended a service at which they were given the new picture of how Madeleine would look today.

A photo of her was projected on to the church wall and a candle was lit — the same candle that has been lit on the 50th day, the 100th, and all anniversaries of Madeleine’s disappearance.

Father Haynes Hubbard, who led the prayers, said: “We light it again as a sign of renewed hope to find Madeleine.” He and his wife Susan — who both moved to Portugal from Canada — have become close friends to Kate and Gerry. In the early days after their daughter’s abduction, he gave them a key to the church and they would go to pray alone there.

Missing ... how Madeleine may look now at 9
Now Kate often goes to stay with the couple, who have also visited the McCanns at their home in Rothley, Leicestershire.

Father Hubbard says that despite the lack of posters of Madeleine in the village, to his congregation she is not forgotten.

Referring to how his churchmembers helped Kate and Gerry after Madeleine vanished, he said: “We were there to be with, to cry with.

“We didn’t want to ask them questions, we just wanted to help them.”

He added: “There are some naysayers who claim things have changed for the worse. I don’t accept that. I have children, and they are growing up here fine. Luz is a lovely place. Happiness still happens here. Grief still happens here. I hope Praia da Luz can be remembered not for what happened to (Kate and Gerry McCann), but what we did for them.”

Kate and Gerry have searched incessantly for Madeleine.

They launched a global manhunt, funded by public donations that at one stage topped £2million.

In 2008, the Portuguese police shelved the case but the McCanns campaigned for it to be reopened — and for the British police to conduct a review.
That review was granted after the couple penned an open letter in The Sun last May, begging David Cameron to help them.

As they have learnt in the past 12 months, the process is long and involved. But it has given them hope — and hope is all they have to cling to.

Asked recently how long they will search, Kate said firmly: “As long as it takes — no parent could give up on their child.”

Kate, who worked as a locum GP, has never gone back to work.

For much of the past five years she has spent every day going through police files, desperately trying to find the one clue that will reunite her with her daughter.

Last year she wrote a book simply called Madeleine which was serialised in The Sun.
For many couples, the trauma of the past five years could have driven them apart.
But the McCanns say their relationship has never foundered.

In a recent interview, Gerry, a cardiologist, said: “We’re very lucky in that our relationship was very good, very strong before this happened and I’m not sure we’d have survived if that wasn’t the case.”

As the McCanns have suffered — in public and in private — the man many hold responsible for bungling the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance has mercilessly cashed in on the little girl.

Goncalo Amaral led the woefully inadequate Portuguese police probe.
He was sacked from the case and after his retirement wrote a book, The Truth Of The Lie, in which he asserted that Madeleine was dead and that her parents had lied about her abduction.

The McCanns won a court case banning the book, although this was later overturned.

They are currently waiting for a £1 million libel case against him to be heard.
But unbowed as ever, Amaral travelled to Praia da Luz recently for a TV show in which he again attacked the McCanns.

Standing outside apartment 5a, he asserted that Madeleine had died in the apartment and that for the past five years her parents have maintained an elaborate charade of lies.

When the TV host remonstrated with him, the vile ex-cop replied: “I do not know why he (Gerry McCann) says there must be a body. In order to prove the child is dead it is not necessary to have a body.

“In this case, if we could abstract ourselves of the name of the child that disappeared, of the child’s parents and just look at the facts in an objective manner and move forward with the investigation, facts would speak for themselves!”
For Kate and Gerry, his disgusting accusations will be no surprise.

At least they can take comfort from one of his other assertions — that the truth about what happened to Madeleine will only be learnt if the Portuguese police investigation is reopened.

It is something they have demanded for nearly four years.

Amaral claimed: “There is no point in saying that the child is dead, or that the child is alive.

“What we need is to work the investigation and carry it out to the end, something that was not done.

“The investigation of this case can be considered as an unfinished investigation that needs to be completed.”

For Kate and Gerry that reinvestigation could hold the key to them being reunited with Madeleine — or at least having the comfort of knowing what happened to her.
It would also show Amaral’s accusations as being what they are — evil lies.

AT a whitewashed church in a Portuguese village, a tiny card displays three photos of a little girl.

It is tucked away in the display box outside the church in Praia da Luz, with the words: “Still Missing — Still Missed”. The faded message alongside it reads: “Please pray for me

Yet even more bullshit. Unless another one has been put in this last weekend, then there has been no mention of her, for at least 2 years

At least they can take comfort from one of his other assertions — that the truth about what happened to Madeleine will only be learnt if the Portuguese police investigation is reopened.

It is something they have demanded for nearly four years.

And she has the temerity to talk about Amaral's "lies".

kate and gerry regually go to portugal since when???

Justiceforallkids wrote:kate and gerry regually go to portugal since when???

I think if they were wandering round PDL then someone would have photographed them and posted it on some site.

Justiceforallkids wrote:kate and gerry regually go to portugal since when???

Lots of visits to lawyers and their PR agency! Probably not to hand out photos in those lawless villages!

fred wrote:

Justiceforallkids wrote:kate and gerry regually go to portugal since when???

I think if they were wandering round PDL then someone would have photographed them and posted it on some site.

exactly so why say they regulaly go there when they dont???

AnnaEsse wrote:

Justiceforallkids wrote:kate and gerry regually go to portugal since when???

Lots of visits to lawyers and their PR agency! Probably not to hand out photos in those lawless villages!

yes but it makes it sound like they go for maddie was when they dont!!!!

Can't find it now but, on another recent Thread here, a similar article qualified that rather broad-brush statement by adding that Gerry doesn't go as often as Kate because he's, well, busy.

For Kate and Gerry that reinvestigation could hold the key to them being reunited with Madeleine — or at least having the comfort of knowing what happened to her.
It would also show Amaral’s accusations as being what they are — evil lies.

Add to that:'vile ex-cop' and his 'disgusting accusations'.

A weird piece which throws a few facts into the mix that haven't been published much. Such as the McCanns losing the case against Amaral. Another bit of publicity for his book imo. Although one can't expect too much from Sun readers.

The bolded bit is priceless: Drs. McCann, we now know your daughter was held in a lawless village by a gang of paedophiles. I'm sure that will be a comfort to you to know this. ???? Where do they get these brainless hacks?
And the last sentence doesn't follow the argument at all. If she is found with the pink blanket in a grave - that's hardly going to be a comfort to them is it? Because that would put them very firmly in the frame as the pink blanket was photographed by the PJ and disappeared the following day.

What is the date on that piece of shit? Because I have read the first half of that before. Verbatim. YEARS ago. Only one word has been altered - the "five". It probably said !two" or "three" to begin with.

Two million quid and they can't even come up with any original lies. We're not getting value for money here, folks.

Iris wrote:What is the date on that piece of shit? Because I have read the first half of that before. Verbatim. YEARS ago. Only one word has been altered - the "five". It probably said !two" or "three" to begin with.

Two million quid and they can't even come up with any original lies. We're not getting value for money here, folks.

This part suggests that you are right about this being at least partly an old article:

Number 5a, the apartment from where Madeleine was snatched just days before her fourth birthday, remains locked and shuttered.

I wish that the McCanns would stop talking about Madeleine not being harmed.

Madeleine was harmed the minute she disappeared from that apartment. In the event that she was abducted by the childless couple and has been living happily with them for five years, then she would face being harmed even further should she be found and returned to Kate and Gerry. She would again be displaced from the family she now knows and loves, thereby being harmed yet again.

If they could stop thinking and talking about themselves for just five minutes they might see this and learn a new mantra. We are not talking about a library book somebody forgot to return for five years. There is no happy outcome in all of this, Madeleine was harmed, the question is to what degree.

AT a whitewashed church in a Portuguese village, a tiny card displays three photos of a little girl.

It is tucked away in the display box outside the church in Praia da Luz, with the words: “Still Missing — Still Missed”. The faded message alongside it reads: “Please pray for me.”

Somebody has just put on Amazon that that card was removed two years ago.

''AT a whitewashed church in a Portuguese village, a tiny card displays three photos of a little girl.

It is tucked away in the display box outside the church in Praia da Luz, with the words: "Still Missing - Still Missed". The faded message alongside it reads: "Please pray for me'' ''

Not true, it was removed 2 years ago.

Unless it's just made a miraculous reappearance.

Iris wrote:

AT a whitewashed church in a Portuguese village, a tiny card displays three photos of a little girl.

It is tucked away in the display box outside the church in Praia da Luz, with the words: “Still Missing — Still Missed”. The faded message alongside it reads: “Please pray for me.”

Somebody has just put on Amazon that that card was removed two years ago.

''AT a whitewashed church in a Portuguese village, a tiny card displays three photos of a little girl.

It is tucked away in the display box outside the church in Praia da Luz, with the words: "Still Missing - Still Missed". The faded message alongside it reads: "Please pray for me'' ''

Not true, it was removed 2 years ago.

Unless it's just made a miraculous reappearance.

"Whitwashed" church is rather an unfortunate turn of phrase, in these circumstances.

not to mention she may not even speak eglish npw and if she was taken by a abductor she would have stockholm sydrome too

Justiceforallkids wrote:not to mention she may not even speak eglish npw and if she was taken by a abductor she would have stockholm sydrome too

Especially if it's a nice, childless couple whoi just wanted a baby to love. They might have actually taken her to restaurants and on beach trips, instead of leaving her all day with strangers and alone at nights.

Hubbard also said she goes back regulaly and walks the streets....

Iris wrote:

Justiceforallkids wrote:not to mention she may not even speak eglish npw and if she was taken by a abductor she would have stockholm sydrome too

Especially if it's a nice, childless couple whoi just wanted a baby to love. They might have actually taken her to restaurants and on beach trips, instead of leaving her all day with strangers and alone at nights.

thats why i dont understand why if the 1% chance she is alive pros and kate and gerry think she would come home like she never left she wou find it very hard and she wouldnt remember the twins imo

If Kate regularly goes back how does she get there? Private jet, whisked as a top celebrity through airport controls and security?
Where does she stay when there? The British embassy and treated like the Queen, security guards etc? If she stayed at a hotel or with her Hubbard friends then she would be seen by many people and I have no doubt she would be photographed by many people.
Oh so many questions, does anyone have any answers?

[quote="kitti"]Hubbard also said she goes back regulaly and walks the streets....

I should know better but I'm sniggering over the double meaning of "walks the streets".

This partly recycled garbage from the lovely Antonella really plumbs the depths of journalistic incompetence. The comments about Sr Amaral and the Portuguese police have had me spitting feathers.

May I suggest a match made in heaven (or the other place) would be Antonella and Tony Parsons!

For much of the past five years she has spent every day going through police files, desperately trying to find the one clue that will reunite her with her daughter.

.....she only has to read hers and her friends statements for all the answers

kitti wrote:Hubbard also said she goes back regulaly and walks the streets....

Why, has the fund finally run out?

' It is where Kate last saw her-asleep in her bed clutching Cuddle Cat'..Funny on Woman's Hour, Kate had trouble remembering if she was asleep or not..

fedrules wrote:' It is where Kate last saw her-asleep in her bed clutching Cuddle Cat'..Funny on Woman's Hour, Kate had trouble remembering if she was asleep or not..

selective memory????