Kate and Gerry McCann: Parents still searching for missing Maddie

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of toddler Maddie who disappeared in Portugal in 2007, have had their relationship, family and faith tested to the limits, but have never given up hope of seeing their daughter again.
The British couple, both doctors, have been in the international limelight since three-year-old Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007, from the apartment in the Praia da Luz seaside resort where the family was holidaying.
Almost 20 years and many twists later including investigators announcing on Monday a new search at the site of the disappearance Kate and Gerry McCann, 57, are still together, with their two other children, Sean and Amelie.
"Whilst we are fortunate in many ways and able to live a relatively normal and enjoyable life now, the 'living in limbo' is still very unsettling. And the absence still aches," Maddie's parents wrote on their website in 2024.
"We know the love and hope for Madeleine and the will to find her, even after so many years, remains, and we are truly thankful for that."
Kate and Gerry met in Glasgow in 1993 while they were medical interns.
They married five years later, and had Madeleine in 2003, followed by twins Sean and Amelie in 2005.
On the night of the disappearance, the couple were dining with friends at a restaurant near the apartment.
They regularly checked on the children. But at 10:00 pm, they saw Maddie had vanished.
After several months of searching and media hype, Portuguese authorities questioned the couple as suspects, believing Maddie died in an accident that her parents covered up with a fake kidnapping story.
The couple vehemently denied the accusation, which was widely reported by tabloids. The Portuguese prosecutor announced almost a year later, in 2008, that there was no evidence to support the theory.
Kate McCann, a general practitioner, left her job shortly after the disappearance to focus on the search for her daughter and caring for the twins.
She returned to work during the pandemic, and now supports patients with dementia. She is also an ambassador for the "Missing People" association.
Gerry McCann became a renowned cardiologist and lecturer at the University of Leicester.
The book "Madeleine", written by Kate McCann and published in 2011, provided a glimpse into their lives after the disappearance.
It revealed the couple still buy Maddie Christmas and birthday presents each year, have a fear of overprotecting their twins and laid bare the toll taken on their private life.
"I worried about Gerry and me," she wrote, describing her "inability to permit any pleasure" and being haunted by the fear that her little girl had fallen into the hands of a paedophile.
She also recounted how Maddie's disappearance shook the faith of the two practising Catholics.
"There have been many times when I've felt God has deserted me or that he has let Madeleine down," she confided.
The McCanns still live in the same brick house in Rothley, central England, where they resided at the time of the disappearance.
The couple have never relented in their efforts, and successfully lobbied then-prime minister David Cameron to reopen the investigation.
But the costly Operation Grange, launched in 2011, failed to uncover the truth.
The twins, now 20, grew up "in Madeleine's shadow", a family friend told the Daily Mail, but "are now young adults... carving out their own lives".
Amelie studies at Durham University in northern England, while Sean, who is also a freestyle swimming champion, is a student at Loughborough University in central England.
In recent years, two women have been charged with harassing the family.
One, a Polish woman named Julia Wandel, claimed to be Maddie, who would now be 22. But a DNA test ruled that out.
Despite the false leads, Kate and Gerry have not given up, as they write movingly on their website "Find Madeleine".
"There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Madeleine has been harmed. Madeleine is still missing and someone needs to be looking for her," they wrote.
"She is young and vulnerable and needs our help. We love her dearly and miss her beyond words."
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Daily Mail