Madeleine McCann’s parents mark her 20th birthday with vow to ‘never give up’
Kate and Gerry McCann have pledged to ‘never give up’ looking for their daughter as part of an emotional message issued on her 20th birthday.
Madeleine was three years old when she disappeared from the family’s holiday accommodation in the Portuguese beach resort of Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007.
In a message on social media, they wrote: ‘Happy birthday Madeleine! We love you and we are waiting for you.
‘We are never going to give up.’
The message appeared with a slideshow of pictures showing the girl together with images of the parents at various stages of their long search.
In the post accompanying the message, they wrote: ‘Still missing. Still very much missed. Still looking. For as long as it takes…’
There has been no trace of the girl since her disappearance, although German prosecutors believe Madeleine is dead.
A convicted child abuser from Germany has been named the prime suspect in the case by both German and Portuguese prosecutors.
Christian Brueckner was charged in October in relation to several cases involving other sex offences allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
The 46-year-old has been imprisoned since 2005 for raping an elderly American woman in Praia da Luz.
Last month, a German court decided not to hear one of the cases as it is not located in the same region where Brueckner last lived in Germany.
Local prosecutors have said they will not charge Brueckner over Maddie’s disappearance this year but are confident they will next year.
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