The purpose of
this site is for information and a record of Gerry McCann's Blog
Archives. As most people will appreciate GM deleted all past blogs
from the official website. Hopefully this Archive will be helpful to
anyone who is interested in Justice for Madeleine Beth McCann. Many
Thanks, Pamalam
Note: This site does not belong to the McCanns. It belongs to Pamalam. If
you wish to contact the McCanns directly, please use
the contact/email details
campaign@findmadeleine.com
Video clips of Madeleine, including one in which she is heard speaking for the first time, are made public - 19 months
after Madeleine was reported missing.
Find Madeleine, 21 December 2008
FindMadeleine.com
Your support, information and ideas really do count - thank you.
This is our second Christmas without Madeleine.
Please help us make sure we don't have a third.
Dear Supporter,
First of all we would like to take
this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support. Your solidarity has helped maintain our strength
and our hope - especially at this difficult time of year.
A
quick update on what has been happening:
As you may have seen
in the media, the Portuguese authorities have lifted our 'arguido' status and in July 2008 closed the investigation to find
Madeleine. It is therefore even more important now that we, Madeleine's family, do everything we possibly can to try and find
our little girl.
Reassuringly, we know that there
is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Madeleine has been seriously harmed (and this has been further confirmed
after studying the recently released Portuguese police files). In light of this, we passionately believe that there is a very
strong likelihood that Madeleine is out there and can be found.
With your support we will NEVER give up looking for Madeleine.
Like any family who suddenly find
themselves in such a confusing and terrifying situation, we don't know if any of us could have got through all this without
the support of people like you. So thank you so much for your help. Without your prayers and efforts, the confusion, isolation
and heartache our family has faced would have been so much harder.
Yours sincerely
Gerry and Kate McCann
*
How else you can help
1. If you're going abroad
this Christmas, please download a copy of the poster by clicking here and put them up on your travels.
2. Tell a friend if they're
heading off on holiday and would like to help
3. Please, always keep looking,
wherever you are in the world. Thank you.
If you would like more information
about how you can further support our search for Madeleine, or have any ideas of your own about what else we can do please
visit www.findmadeleine.com.
The new Madeleine Christmas poster
Video: First clip of Madeleine speaking, 21 December 2008
Note: Sky News have disabled the embedding of this video on other sites.
McCanns' Emotional Video Appeal
Dec 21, 2008
The parents of Madeleine McCann have released an emotional appeal as they prepare to spend their second Christmas without
their daughter, who disappeared in Portugal in May 2007. Sky's Ashish Joshi reports. Appeal footage from www.findmadeleine.com
Kate: I know our
Maddie is alive, 30 November 2008
EXCLUSIVE New worldwide appeal as McCanns face second heartbreak Xmas Star
gives TV backing
By Tracey Kandohla
30 November 2008
Missing
Madeleine McCann's mum Kate remains certain she is still alive - and plans a worldwide appeal at Christmas for help in finding
the tot.
Kate and husband Gerry, both 40, are facing their second Christmas without Maddie
- but they bravely took their twins Amelie and Sean out for some festive fun this week.
A sporting hero, who has yet to be named, will front the TV appeal. The celeb
will speak as previously unseen footage of Maddie is screened.
She was nearly four when she vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal 19
months ago. But McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry believe Madeleine is still out there. Their faith
and hope have helped them through their darkest days.
"They believe their daughter is still alive. The Christmas message will be about
finding her. Kate and Gerry do not want to appear themselves but they are keen to invigorate interest in the search."
Sean and Amelie, three, wore Star Wars fancy dress and shrieked with laughter
as Christmas lights were turned on by Darth Vader in the McCanns' home village of Rothley, Leics.
Blonde Amelie, who bares a striking resemblance to her big sister, was dressed
as Princess Leia.
Sean waved a toy Star Wars light sabre. Kate clung tightly to Amelie. But an
onlooker said: "I have never seen her look so happy. She was grinning from ear to ear. It was a joy to see her so content
and relaxed."
Mr Mitchell said: "Kate wanted the twins to see the lights. Last year was difficult
but this year they are making an effort for their sake."
Madeleine McCann Christmas appeal to air on TV, 03 December
2008
Madeleine McCann Christmas appeal to air on TV Telegraph
A new worldwide television appeal is to be launched at Christmas appealing for help in finding Madeleine
McCann.
Last Updated: 4:53PM GMT 03 Dec 2008
It is likely the appeal
will be fronted by celebrity - who has yet to be named - and concentrate solely on Madeleine and not her parents Kate and
Gerry, who face their second Christmas without their daughter.
The appeal is also likely to feature previously unseen footage of Madeleine who
was nearly four when she vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal 19 months ago. The Find Madeleine Fund is to foot the
cost of the new appeal.
The McCanns spokesman Clarence Mitchell confirmed that discussions were
underway over the fresh appeal.
"It is likely there will be a Christmas message with the focus on Madeleine,"
he said.
Mr Mitchell would not comment on who had been approached to narrate
the film, but it is believed to be a sporting hero or some other celebrity.
The message will be done in video format
so it can be used by broadcasters and the Find Madeline Fund website.
It is believed the McCanns do not want to appear themselves but are keen to spark
renewed interest in the search.
Last month the McCanns admitted they faced a new blow in their hunt for their
daughter.
They said there was less information in the released Portuguese police files
than they had hoped. Among the files was a prosecutor's report that said the investigation had uncovered "very little" conclusive
about Madeleine's fate.
The McCanns also confessed to being "low" as the 18th month milestone of Madeleine's
disappearance passed, but have expanded their support team to try and find their daughter and understand what has - and has
not - been done by the Portuguese police.
The McCanns have already spent more than £1m trying to find Madeleine, who disappeared
on May 3, 2007 from the resort of Praia da Luz, in the Algarve region of Portugal, just days short of her fourth birthday.
The McCanns have previously accused the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) - the Portuguese
criminal investigation police - of exaggerating DNA evidence to name them as suspects after Madeleine vanished.
The police inquiry into the girl's disappearance was wound up in July due to
a lack of evidence.
The McCanns and a third British national, Robert Murat - who have always strongly
denied having had any involvement in what happened to Madeleine - were then declared to no longer be formal suspects.
The McCanns have vowed to "leave no stone unturned" in their hunt for Madeleine
- who they firmly believe is still alive - and also say they may change the way they keep people updated about the hunt for
their daughter.
A worldwide television
appeal will be launched at Christmas to help find missing youngster Madeleine McCann.
As parents Kate and Gerry McCann prepare for their second Christmas without their
daughter, the video will feature unseen footage of Madeleine and will be broadcast over December.
The appeal is to be fronted by a sporting hero or well-known celebrity, although
details have not yet been confirmed.
The Find Madeleine Fund is paying for the video, which will be used on its own
website – www.findmadeleine.com – and by broadcasters.
Kate and Gerry have given the video their backing but will not be appearing in
the appeal.
Madeleine's great-aunt, Janet Kennedy, of Rothley, said: "The search for Madeleine
still goes on – anything which raises awareness is definitely worth pursuing.
"We are still hopeful that we will find her – it could take one sighting
or one tiny piece of the puzzle. We will never give up."
Portuguese police finished their inquires into the disappearance in July due
to lack of evidence. However, the McCanns are continuing their search vowing "to leave no stone unturned".
Files released by Portuguese police last month did not reveal the information
the McCanns had hoped for and the couple admitted "feeling low" on November 3, the 18-month milestone of Madeleine's disappearance.
On the Find Madeleine website, Gerry said: "It was unusual in that both Kate
and I were feeling low at the same time, which is an uncommon occurrence, and we can usually rely on one of us lifting the
other.
"As I have stated many times, someone has a key bit of information that can unlock
this frustratingly difficult and painful situation."
Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007, from the resort of Praia da Luz, in the
Algarve region of Portugal, days before her fourth birthday.
People from around the world will pray for Madeleine's safe return today as part
of an international day of prayer.
About 20,000 Christians will pray during an event organised by Music Download
Revolution, based in Lancashire.
John Wearne, of Music Download Revolution, said: "We still feel that Madeleine
is alive and that prayers will help bring her home.
"We would be so thankful if you could share this invitation with your friends,
family members, churches, prayer groups and colleagues – anyone who has a heart for missing and abused children and
who believes in miracles."
McCanns concentrate on police files, 15 December 2008
McCanns concentrate on police files Leicester Mercury (currently appears in paper edition only)
By TOM PEGDEN
15 December 2008
Extract:
Mr Mitchell said Christmas would be a private affair for the McCanns this year.
There are, however, plans to issue a worldwide television appeal to jog people's minds over the festive season.
An as yet unnamed sports person or celebrity is understood to be lined up for the appeal.
Mr Mitchell said: "We don't know what the appeal's going to look like yet and we're not going to release it until close
to Christmas.
"Christmas for the family will be private."
McCann family plea for Madeleine news, 20 December 2008
The parents of missing British girl
Madeleine McCann issued an emotional appeal on Sunday to try to ensure this is the last Christmas they spend without their
daughter.
Kate and Gerry McCann released fresh video footage of Madeleine playing with her family at home in Britain
in December 2006, five months before she disappeared from a holiday flat in Portugal aged four.
Her parents do not
appear in the video, but it includes a direct emotional appeal from them for help in finding Madeleine: "Christmas is a time
for children. Please help bring our daughter back."
And it closes with the words: "This will be our second Christmas
without our daughter. Please help us make sure we don't have a third".
The family's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said:
"Kate and Gerry do not wish to say anything further.
They feel the video will speak for itself.
The video shows
Madeleine sitting on the stairs of the McCanns' home in Rothley, Leicestershire, in central England, flanked by her younger
siblings, twins Sean and Amelie.
It includes the first recording of her speaking that has been made public, as she
encourages her brother and sister to copy her gestures, saying: "Clap your hands together and one, two, three".
Madeleine's
parents started 2008 under a cloud of suspicion after Portuguese police named them as "arguidos", or formal suspects, in their
daughter's disappearance, but prosecutors announced in July they were no longer suspects.
Portuguese police have said
they are no longer actively investigating the case.
McCanns release new video appeal, 20 December 2008
Madeleine McCann - 'Our little angel'
Moving pictures of Maddie's last Christmas at home News of the World
By Ross Hall, 21/12/2008
THE thrill of Christmas clear on
her beaming face, Madeleine McCann plays to the camera in touching new footage appealing for help over her disappearance.
The previously unseen video clips
have been released by Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry as they face their second Christmas without her.
For the the first time viewers will
hear Maddie's voice as she is shown speaking of her new pink shoes, dancing in a fairy outfit and riding a bike.
It was mostly filmed at Christmas
2006—the last time the McCanns were all together as a family over the festive period. The video shows Maddie sitting
on the stairs of their home in Rothley, Leics, flanked by younger twins Sean and Amelie.
Maddie, three and a half at the time,
encourages her brother and sister to copy her gestures, saying: "Clap your hands together and one, two, three."
Difficult
She then holds up her present and
says: "These are my shoes." Behind the camera, dad Gerry asks what colour they are. Maddie replies: "Pink."
She then leaps up and dances around,
waving her shoes. The short film uses Snow Patrol's hit Chasing Cars as its soundtrack. Kate and Gerry decided not to appear
in the video but say on it: "Please help bring our daughter back. This will be our second Christmas without our daughter.
Please help us make sure we don't have a third."
Madeleine was nine days short of
her fourth birthday when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3 last year as
her parents dined with friends.
The McCanns will spend this Christmas
with the twins and close family and friends.
Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell
said: "Producing a video like this is itself making Christmas more difficult.
"But they are doing it because they
believe Madeleine is still out there and they want that piece of information."
Our reward
still on offer
THE News of the World's £1.5million
reward for Madeleine's safe return still stands.
Celebrities and business leaders
including Harry Potter author JK Rowling and Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green pledged huge sums after we launched our Find
Maddie campaign with £250,000.
The offer is subject to standard
News of the World reward conditions.
DELIGHT: With pink shoes
SMILES: Maddie on her bike
SO PRETTY: In fairy outfit
EXCITED: She opens present
Our angel! Please let this be our last Xmas without Madeleine, 20
December 2008
Our angel! Please let this be our last Xmas without Madeleine Daily Mirror
By Lori Campbell
20/12/2008
The McCanns' new plea for return of Maddie.
In heartbreaking pictures showing
her last Christmas at home, missing Madeleine McCann is dressed as an angel.
The images from a 2006 family video
were yesterday released for the first time by her parents Kate and Gerry, who begged in a Christmas message: "Please let this
be our last without her."
The anguished couple hope the footage
of Madeline, then three, playing happily with the couple’s younger twins Sean and Amelie will spark the breakthrough
they are still desperately waiting for.
Relaunching their campaign to find
Madeleine, who vanished from their holiday apartment in Portugal on May 3 last year, Kate and Gerry said: "Christmas is a
time for children. Please help bring our daughter back."
In the video, Madeleine dances around
in her costume, jokingly hits her father with a soft toy and speaks proudly of her new pink shoes.
She is also seen sitting at the bottom
of the stairs of the McCanns' home in Rothley, Leicestershire, flanked by Sean and Amelie.
Madeleine playfully encourages her
younger brother and sister to copy her gestures, saying: "Clap your hands together and one, two, three."
She then holds up her new pair of
shoes and says: "These are my shoes."
In one clip she is seen turning over
a wrapped Christmas present and pointing at the camera as smiling mum Kate holds her.
The short film, which has Snow Patrol's
hit song Chasing Cars as its soundtrack, also features a montage of clips of Madeleine, including previously unseen images
of her as a baby.
It also includes a direct emotional
appeal from Kate and Gerry to anyone in the world who knows where their daughter is.
The film closes with the words: "This
will be our second Christmas without our daughter. Please help us make sure we don’t have a third."
The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell
said: "Kate and Gerry do not wish to say anything further. They feel the video will speak for itself.
"This message is entirely focused
on Madeleine, as it should be at this time of year. Kate and Gerry are still very much continuing a lot of hard work behind
the scenes in the search for their daughter. This, they feel, is a timely and appropriate reminder that she is still out there
and that somebody somewhere may still have that vital piece of information that may lead to her being found."
Kate and Gerry will spend this Christmas
with close family and friends, but their spokesman acknowledged it will be a "difficult time of year".
Mr Mitchell added: "Producing a video
like this is itself making it more difficult. But they are doing it because they believe Madeleine is still out there and
they want that piece of information."
You can watch the newly-released
video on our website videoplayer, or at www.findmadeleine.com.
A new video has been released of Madeleine McCann as her parents issue a fresh appeal for help in finding the youngster.
The footage was shot around Christmas 2006, a few months before Madeleine disappeared from her parents' holiday apartment
in Portugal.
In the video Madeleine holds up her new pair of shoes and says: "These are my shoes."
Behind the camera Mr McCann asks her what colour they are, and she answers: "Pink."
The little girl - who was three at the time - is seen dancing around the wooden floor of the McCanns' home in Rothley,
Leicestershire.
The short film, which has Snow Patrol's hit song Chasing Cars as its soundtrack, also features a montage of clips of
Madeleine.
The video ends with an emotional appeal from Gerry and Kate McCann.
"This will be our second Christmas without our daughter. Please help us make sure we don't have a third," they say.
McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell has said: "Kate and Gerry do not wish to say anything further. They feel the
video will speak for itself."
Heard for the first time, the excited voice of Madeleine enjoying her
last family Christmas, 21 December 2008
Heard for the first time, the excited voice of Madeleine enjoying her last family Christmas Daily Mail
By MATT SANDY
Last updated at 12:27 AM on 21st December 2008
The parents of Madeleine McCann are due to release a video featuring the missing toddler's voice for the first time.
Maddie is heard in a touching home movie, filmed as she enjoyed her last family Christmas.
The video shows her, dressed in her favourite pink, sitting on the stairs of her Leicestershire home with younger twin
siblings Sean and Amelie, encouraging them: 'Clap your hands together and one, two, three.'
Picture of hope: This still from the family video shows Madeleine happily playing with twins Sean
and Amelie
Delighted at her new pair of slip-ons, Madeleine looks into the camera, smiles and says: 'These are my shoes.'
Her father Gerry, who is filming her, asks what colour they are and she replies: 'Pink!'
Madeleine, then three, leaps up from the stairs and dances around the wooden floor, waving her shoes and looking up at
the light streaming in from a window.
The short film also shows her dancing in a fairy costume and jokingly hitting Gerry with a soft toy. Then in a montage
she is seen turning over a present and pointing at the camera as her smiling mother Kate holds her.
Happy times: Madeleine holds a present in this still from the video
Kate and Gerry decided not to make a new appearance in the video but it includes an emotional appeal from them.
They say: 'Christmas is a time for children. Please help bring our daughter back.'
And as the video closes, they say: 'This will be our second Christmas without our daughter. Please help us make sure
we don't have a third.'
Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal in May last
year.
The newly released video was mostly filmed at Christmas 2006, the last time the McCanns celebrated the festive period
with all their children.
Adorable: Madeleine dressed as a pink fairy in the family film
The McCanns will spend this Christmas with the twins and close family and friends but their spokesman Clarence Mitchell
said it would be a 'difficult time of year'.
He said: 'Producing a video like this is itself making it more difficult. But they are doing it because they believe
Madeleine is still out there. Kate and Gerry do not wish to say anything further. They feel the video will speak for itself.
'This message is entirely focused on Madeleine, as it should be at this time of year. They are still very much continuing
a lot of hard work behind the scenes in the search for their daughter.
'This, they feel, is a timely and appropriate reminder that she is still out there and that somebody somewhere may still
have that vital piece of information that may lead to her being found.'
It has been a gruelling year for the McCanns. The couple started 2008 as arguidos, or formal suspects, in their daughter’s
disappearance.
Then came a series of painful landmarks, in particular the first anniversary of Madeleine's vanishing on May 3 and her
fifth birthday nine days later.
Prosecutors announced in July this year that they were shelving the case and lifting the couple's arguido status.
In August, thousands of pages from the official Portuguese police files were made public, revealing the many different
lines officers pursued in their 14-month inquiry.
The McCanns have had the police documents from the investigation translated into English and are going through them painstakingly
with, it is understood, a small team of retired senior British police officers.
The new video is due to be put on the website: www.findmadeleine.com on Sunday.
McCanns appeal in Christmas film, 21 December 2008
Page last updated at 00:42
GMT, Sunday, 21 December 2008
The parents of Madeleine McCann have issued a Christmas video of their daughter, including
an emotional plea for their family to be reunited.
The footage was filmed in December
2006 - the family's last Christmas together before Madeleine vanished from a Portuguese holiday flat on 3 May 2007.
It shows Madeleine dancing in a fairy
outfit and showing off some pink shoes.
In an on-screen message her parents
say: "Christmas is a time for children. Please help bring our daughter back."
"This will be our second Christmas
without our daughter. Please help us make sure we don't have a third," Kate and Gerry McCann urge.
Madeleine was nearly four when she
vanished from the apartment in Praia da Luz, as her parents dined with friends nearby.
The previously unpublished footage
shows her sitting on the stairs of the McCanns' home in Rothley, Leicestershire, flanked by her younger siblings, twins Sean
and Amelie.
In the first recording of her speaking
to be made public, she encourages her brother and sister to copy her gestures, saying: "Clap your hands together and one,
two, three."
Madeleine then holds up her new pair
of shoes and says: "These are my shoes."
Behind the camera Mr McCann asks
her what colour they are, and she answers: "Pink."
The little girl - who was three at
the time - then leaps up from the stairs and dances around the wooden floor, waving her shoes and looking up at the light
streaming in from a window.
The short film, which has Snow Patrol's
hit song Chasing Cars on its soundtrack, also features a montage of clips of Madeleine.
She is seen turning over a Christmas
present and pointing at the camera as a smiling Mrs McCann holds her.
Vital information
McCann family spokesman Clarence
Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry do not wish to say anything further. They feel the video will speak for itself.
"This message is entirely focused
on Madeleine, as it should be at this time of year.
"Kate and Gerry are still very much
continuing a lot of hard work behind the scenes in the search for their daughter.
"This, they feel, is a timely and
appropriate reminder that she is still out there and that somebody somewhere may still have that vital piece of information
hat may lead to her being found."
Mr and Mrs McCann will spend Christmas
with their twins and close family and friends, but their spokesman acknowledged it will be a "difficult time of year".
Mr Mitchell added: "Producing a video
like this is itself making it more difficult.
Painstaking
"But they are doing it because they
believe Madeleine is still out there and they want that piece of information."
Prosecutors initially placed "arguido"
- or formal suspect - status on the McCanns but this was lifted in July when the case was shelved as detectives stopped actively
searching for the youngster.
Mr and Mrs McCann, who say they will
believe their daughter is alive until given clear evidence to the contrary, have since had thousands of pages from the police
files translated into English.
They continue to painstakingly go
through them and it is understood they are being assisted by a small team of retired senior British police officers.
McCanns release Christmas video of Madeleine, 21 December
2008
McCanns release Christmas video of Madeleine Guardian
Emotional plea from McCanns for help in finding their daughter, who is missing for
a second Christmas
Staff and agencies
Sunday 21 December 2008 09.46 GMT
Previously
unseen footage of Madeleine McCann was released by her parents today as they made an emotional plea for help in finding their
missing daughter.
The video shows the little girl playing
happily with her family before her disappearance and features the first recording of her speaking that has been made public.
She dances around dressed in a fairy outfit, jokingly hits her father with a soft toy and speaks proudly of her new pink shoes.
The clips were mostly filmed around
Christmas 2006, the last time the McCanns were together with all three of their children over the festive period.
In an on screen message her parents,
Kate and Gerry, say: "Christmas is a time for children. Please help bring our daughter back." And it closes with the words:
"This will be our second Christmas without our daughter. Please help us make sure we don't have a third."
Madeleine was nearly four when she
vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on 3 May last year as her parents dined with friends
nearby.
The new video shows her sitting on
the stairs of the McCanns' home in Rothley, Leicestershire, flanked by her younger siblings, twins Sean and Amelie.
She encourages her brother and sister
to copy her gestures, saying: "Clap your hands together and one, two, three."
Madeleine then holds up her new pair
of shoes and says: "These are my shoes."
Behind the camera Gerry McCann asks
her what colour they are, and she answers: "Pink."
The little girl – who was three
at the time – then leaps up from the stairs and dances around the wooden floor, waving her shoes and looking up at the
light streaming in from a window.
The short film, which has Snow Patrol's
hit song Chasing Cars as its soundtrack, also features a montage of clips of Madeleine.
She is seen turning over a Christmas
present and pointing at the camera as her smiling mother holds her.
McCann family spokesman Clarence
Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry do not wish to say anything further. They feel the video will speak for itself.
"This message is entirely focused
on Madeleine, as it should be at this time of year.
"Kate and Gerry are still very much
continuing a lot of hard work behind the scenes in the search for their daughter.
"This, they feel, is a timely and
appropriate reminder that she is still out there and that somebody somewhere may still have that vital piece of information
that may lead to her being found."
The couple started 2008 with a cloud
of suspicion hanging over them after Portuguese police named them as "arguidos", or formal suspects, in their daughter's disappearance.
They then crossed a series of painful
landmarks, in particular the first anniversary of Madeleine's vanishing on May 3 and her fifth birthday nine days later.
The McCanns were relieved when prosecutors
announced in July that they were shelving the case and lifting the couple's arguido status.
This was tempered by frustration
that detectives were no longer actively investigating Madeleine's disappearance.
In August thousands of pages from
the official Portuguese police files were made public, revealing the many different lines officers pursued in their 14-month
inquiry.
Kate and Gerry McCann, who say they
will believe their daughter is alive until given clear evidence to the contrary, have had the documents translated into English
and are still painstakingly going through them.
It is understood they are being assisted
by a small team of retired senior British police officers with case review experience.
The couple have only given one interview,
to Portuguese newspaper Expresso, since their arguido status was lifted.
Mitchell said this would not change
until they had a specific message to communicate that would help the search for Madeleine.
The new video can be watched on the
McCanns' website, www.findmadeleine.com.
We should still pray for Madeleine McCann 20 months on, 21
December 2008
We should still pray for Madeleine McCann 20 months on Daily Mirror
By Voice of the Sunday Mirror
21/12/2008
Almost 20 months after she disappeared, Madeleine McCann still has the power to tear
at our hearts.
Every day is difficult for her parents,
Kate and Gerry, but Christmas is hardest of all.
This year they have released a video
they took at her last festive season with them. Their simple message is: "This will be our second Christmas without our daughter.
Please help us make sure we don't have a third."
Madeleine came to be a symbol because
so many parents could identify with the suffering of her parents. Since she went missing, there have been other terrible stories
affecting youngsters, including the torture and killing of Baby P and the "kidnap" of Shannon Matthews by her own mother.
But still Madeleine remains unique,
and when her disappearance is brought back to us - as it is through this video - we once again pray that she will soon be
reunited with her family.
VIDEO: Madeleine McCann's voice heard for the first time in home movie
of her last family Christmas, 21 December 2008
VIDEO: Madeleine McCann's voice heard for the first time in home movie of her last family Christmas Daily Mail
By DAVID WILKES
Last updated at 10:27 PM on 21st December 2008
As she talks to the camera with a cheeky grin, her tone is playful and her words are
simple. Yet the effect is heartbreaking.
Madeleine McCann's voice has been
heard for the first time in public, on a home video released by her parents.
While sitting on the stairs with
her younger brother and sister, Sean and Amelie, she encourages them to copy her gestures, saying: 'Clap your hands together
and one, two, three.'
Madeleine, then three, holds up her
new shoes and says: 'These are my shoes.'
Behind the camera her father Gerry
McCann asks her what colour they are, and she answers: 'Pink.'
The video was shot at the end of
2006 - the last Christmas Maddie had with her family.
She disappeared around five months
later on May 3, from the family's holiday apartment in Portugal.
Gerry and Kate McCann, of Rothley,
Leicestershire, released the clip yesterday as part of a fresh appeal for their family to be reunited.
Madeleine is also filmed dressed
in a fairy outfit and jokingly hitting her father with a soft toy, and seen turning over a Christmas present and pointing
at the camera as a smiling Mrs McCann holds her.
The video includes a direct appeal
from the McCanns for assistance: 'Christmas is a time for children,' they say.
'Please help bring our daughter back.'
It closes with the words: 'This will
be our second Christmas without our daughter. Please help us make sure we don't have a third.'
The family's spokesman Clarence Mitchell
said: 'Kate and Gerry are still very much continuing a lot of hard work behind the scenes in the search for their daughter.
'This, they feel, is a timely and
appropriate reminder that she is still out there and that somebody somewhere may still have that vital piece of information
that may lead to her being found.'
Portuguese detectives are no longer
actively investigating Madeleine's disappearance.
The McCanns are going through the
police files with, it is understood, the help of a small team of retired British police officers.
All together now: Madeleine McCann teachers her siblings Sean and Amelie how to clap. She disappeared
on May 3 last year from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal
Fairy princess: The toddler dances as a fairy in her wings and crown as her baby sister plays with
her toys in the background
Big sister: Madeleine smiles for the camera as she supervises younger brother Sean on his train
set
McCanns release fresh
video of daughter with Christmas plea, 21 December 2008
McCanns release fresh video
of daughter with Christmas plea Sunday Herald
Missing girl talks on film as parents ask for help to get her back for next Christmas
By John Bynorth, Home Affairs Editor
21 December 2008
KATE AND
Gerry McCann have released the first video of their daughter Madeleine talking as they make a Christmas plea for her return.
The new video features previously unseen footage of the little girl playing happily
with her family before her disappearance.
She dances around dressed in a fairy outfit, jokingly hits her father with a
soft toy and speaks proudly of her new pink shoes.
The clips were mostly filmed around Christmas 2006, the last time the McCanns
were together with all three of their children over the festive period.
The release came as the girl's uncle admitted the campaign to find Madeleine
may have reached a crossroads.
She was almost four when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in
Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 last year while her parents dined with friends nearby.
John McCann, 49, told the Sunday Herald: "We are stuck in two places. We think
that people are quite aware of what the situation is and don't want them to think here goes those McCanns again.' But on the
other hand, we do, because we need information to find out where she is. We hope the video will help."
The new video shows Madeleine sitting on the stairs of the McCanns' home in Rothley,
Leicestershire, with her younger siblings, twins Sean and Amelie.
She encourages her brother and sister to copy her gestures, saying: "Clap your
hands together and one, two, three."
Madeleine holds up her new pair of shoes and says: "These are my shoes."
The little girl - who was three at the time - then leaps up from the stairs and
dances around the wooden floor, waving her shoes.
The short film, which has Snow Patrol's hit song Chasing Cars as its soundtrack,
also features a montage of clips of Madeleine.
She is seen turning over a Christmas present and pointing at the camera as a
smiling Kate McCann holds her.
Madeleine's parents decided not to be filmed for the new video, but it includes
a direct emotional appeal from them for assistance: "Christmas is a time for children. Please help bring our daughter back."
It closes with the words: "This will be our second Christmas without our daughter.
Please help us make sure we don't have a third."
McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry do not wish to
say anything further. They feel the video will speak for itself. This message is entirely focused on Madeleine, as it should
be at this time of year.
"Kate and Gerry are still very much continuing a lot of hard work behind the
scenes in the search for their daughter. This, they feel, is a timely and appropriate reminder that she is still out there
and that somebody somewhere may still have that vital piece of information that may lead to her being found."
The McCanns will spend Christmas with their twins and close family and friends,
but their spokesman acknowledged it will be a "difficult time of year".
Mitchell added: "Producing a video like this is itself making it more difficult.
But they are doing it because they believe Madeleine is still out there and they want that piece of information."
John McCann, of Knightswood, Glasgow, added: "How does one get through something
like that Christmas? The answer is that we get through it as best we can."
Madeleine's parents started 2008 with a cloud of suspicion hanging over them
after Portuguese police named them as "arguidos", or formal suspects, in the case.
They then marked a series of painful landmarks. The first anniversary of Madeleine's
vanishing was May 3 and her fifth birthday was nine days later.
The McCanns were relieved when prosecutors announced in July they were shelving
the case and lifting the couple's arguido status.
But this was tempered by frustration that detectives were no longer actively
investigating Madeleine's disappearance.
In August thousands of pages from Portuguese police files were made public, revealing
the lines officers pursued in their 14-month inquiry.
The McCanns have had the documents translated into English and are still sifting
through them.
The video can be seen on the McCann website, below.
Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents
of the British child that disappeared on the 3rd of May 2007 in the Algarve, launched a video yesterday where Madeleine can
be seen playing with her younger siblings. The film was recorded in December 2006, in the McCann family home in Rothley, in
central England.
This is another request for help, made by the couple, to find their daughter Maddie. Nevertheless,
this appeal from the McCann couple is different from the previous, as this is the first time that Madeleine McCann's voice
can be heard.
In this video, the couple opted not to appear in the film. According to the McCanns' spokesman, Clarence
Mitchell, Kate and Gerry didn't want to appear in order not to influence the viewing of the video and because it "speaks for
itself".
Still, a message from Maddie's parents accompanies the image of the little girl playing with her siblings.
"Christmas is a time for children. Please help bring our daughter back", the McCann couple appeal, adding: "This is our second
Christmas without Madeleine. Please help us make sure we don't have a third."
Madeleine McCann disappeared from the
apartment at the Ocean Club, in Praia da Luz, Lagos, when she was sleeping in the company of her two brothers. She was three
years old when she disappeared.
"This resembles a toy campaign"
Gonçalo
Amaral, a former PJ inspector and coordinator in the Maddie case, when questioned by CM about the divulging of this new video
from the McCann couple to find their daughter, stated that there is clearly "a need to feed the idea that the child is still
alive". "They need to admit, once and for all, that the little girl is dead", he said. The author of the book 'The Truth of
the Lie', a work inspired in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, also compared this new film with Christmas toy campaigns.
"This resembles more a Christmas toy campaign than the search for a child", he said. The PJ inspector also lamented that "the
videos of the child's disappearance and about the motive for said disappearance were never divulged, because that would help
the investigation, and it would help very much".
Maddie's Xmas gifts are lying under the tree, 22 December
2008
Maddie's gifts The Sun (front cover of paper edition)
By ANTONELLA LAZZERI
22 December 2008
Madeleine McCann's parents have bought
Christmas presents for their missing angel, it emerged last night.
A friend of Kate and Gerry said:
"They think it very much keeps her part of the family."
The McCanns also released an Xmas
video of Maddie, who went missing in 2007.
Full Story - Page Nine
Maddie's Xmas gifts are lying
under the tree The Sun
By ANTONELLA LAZZERI
Published: Today (22 December 2008)
THE parents of missing Madeleine McCann wrestled
with their anguish to buy her gifts — on their second Christmas without her.
Kate and Gerry McCann took the heart-wrenching
decision as they released a fresh video appeal to find her.
They have wrapped the presents and
put them under their tree almost 19 months after Maddie, then three, vanished from their holiday apartment in Portugal.
A source close to the McCanns, both
40, said: "It was a painful thing to do but they simply could not envisage not getting her any.
"It's also partly as a reminder to
Amelie and Sean, her little twin brother and sister.
"There are pictures of her everywhere
in the house but of course like all little children their memories of someone can begin to fade.
"Buying presents and talking about
Madeleine all the time keeps her very much part of the family."
The family, from Rothley, Leics,
will be spending a quiet Christmas with relatives. A friend of Kate and Gerry, who bought Maddie gifts last Christmas too,
said: "They will try to keep it as normal an occasion as possible for the twins’ sake.
Praying
"Like any little kids, they get very
excited about Christmas but of course for Kate and Gerry it is very much a time tinged with sadness.
"They are just praying to God that
next year Maddie will be back home with her family."
In their new TV and internet appeal
Maddie is shown in clips from previous years, talking for the first time about Christmas presents she has received.
She also plays with her brother and
sister, saying: "Clap your hands together and one, two, three."
It ends with her parents begging
anyone who can help to come forward.
They say: "Christmas is a time for
children. Please help bring our daughter back.
"This will be our second Christmas
without our daughter. Please help us make sure we don’t have a third."
Maddie was snatched on May 3, 2007,
only days before her fourth birthday. The twins had just turned three.
Their parents were dining with friends
just a few hundred yards from the family's apartment in Praia Da Luz.
Last night Clarence Mitchell, the
couple's official spokesman, said there had already been a "very good" response to the new appeal.
Madeleine McCann online Christmas appeal watched by thousands, 22
December 2008
Madeleine McCann online Christmas appeal watched by thousands Daily Mirror
By Rod Chaytor
22/12/2008
These are the haunting images of Madeleine McCann enjoying a family Christmas that her parents hope will boost the hunt
for their missing child.
Viewers hear the little girl speak for the first time since she vanished from a Portuguese holiday flat in May 2007.
During an emotional appeal, parents Gerry and Kate, both 40, said: "This is our second Christmas without Madeleine. Please
help us make sure we don't have a third."
In one of the previously unseen clips, Madeleine holds up a new shoe. Asked its colour, she replies: "Pink."
Another shows her encouraging twins Sean and Amelie to copy her at their home in Rothley, Leics. She tells
them: "Clap your hands together and one, two, three."
There are shots of Madeleine dressed as an angel, playing with Gerry, being held as a baby by Kate and
sitting with her younger brother and sister.
Spokesman Clarence
Mitchell said: "We hope to bring home to people that Madeleine is still out there, waiting to be found." Thousands have seen
the internet appeal, triggering dozens of fresh calls to the information hotline.
A friend said: "Kate and Gerry will
be striving to make Christmas as normal as possible for the twins but their thoughts will be with Madeleine."
Madeleine disappeared days before
her fourth birthday at Praia da Luz.
McCann's video "resembles more a Christmas
toy campaign", 22 December 2008
McCann's video "resembles more a Christmas toy campaign" SOSMaddie
Gonçalo Amaral, former coordinator
of the DIC - the PJ's Department of Criminal Investigation, head of the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance,
today accused the parents of the little British girl of "feeding the idea that the child is still alive."
"They need
to admit, once and for all, that the little girl is dead," states Gonçalo Amaral in statements to the Portuguese daily newspaper,
Correio da Manha. According to the former inspector, the video released by the McCanns, "more a Christmas toy campaign than
the search for a child," deploring that "the videos of the child's disappearance and about the motive for said disappearance
were never divulged, because that would help the investigation, and it would help very much."
The call by the former
inspector, requesting the disclosure of a series of videos and images as yet unknown to the public, is not likely to succeed,
because still, in spite of several appeals in that direction, neither the McCanns nor the Portuguese Public Minister (MP)
is showing the least willingness to to reopen the investigation.
Some videos and images from the Tapas 9's holiday
have never been released, because the group has always claimed to the police that they didn't exist. For the Portuguese authorities'
part, the MP still retains an important set of documents under the secrecy of justice, even if a source close to the Prosecutor's
office admits that, "certain journalists have shown publicly that they have a copy of it," stressing for their attention,
"that it is important that the use of these documents is done in such a way so as not to harm a possible reopening of the
investigation."
Maddy shows us true face of Christmas hope, 23 December 2008
Maddy shows us true face of Christmas hope Daily Mirror
Sue Carroll
23/12/2008
HOPE
and forgiveness. Those twin virtues have come to represent what Christmas is really about.
And can there be anyone with more
hope in their hearts than Kate and Gerry McCann, who this week released a previously unseen video of missing daughter Maddy?
In the 19 months since she disappeared
from a holiday apartment in Portugal's Praia da Luz, the image of this perfect little blonde girl has haunted us all.
For reasons any parent must understand,
the McCanns held back images so precious they felt unable to share them.
Till now - when desperation to find
her leaves them with no choice but to ensure she mustn't become a memory, a faded headline consigned to history.
So Maddy's cute irresistible, scrunched-up
smile has crashed into our comfort zones like an Exocet missile exploding the myth this is the season to be jolly.
I wonder how often Kate has watched
those pictures of her daughter twirling around in a fairy dress and showing off her pink shoes - special girlie presents from
Santa.
CHILLING
What mother could resist? Even if
it makes the daily suffering of not being able to feel the warmth of your child's body unbearable.
Taken two years ago, the video recalls
another story. Not one of chilling loss but of a couple enjoying the happy innocence of their eldest bossily demanding her
younger brother and sister clap for the camera.
The very idea that these images and
Maddy's whoops of delight might one day be broadcast to the nation must still catch Kate and Gerry short.
They were, after all, only doing
what millions of mothers and fathers do, capturing on film a Christmas they've worked so hard to make magical.
The same cameo will be played out
all over Britain on Thursday as homes are filled with the uniquely comforting smell of a turkey roasting in the oven amid
piles of discarded wrapping paper and the buzz of excited kids.
However cynical we may have become,
Christmas is the one day when all bets are off. It is special. And that's what makes the Maddy video so deeply moving.
It tells us how once upon a time
the McCanns were a totally unassuming unit, like any other - not a family delivered into the living nightmare of losing their
child to an unknown fate.
It's also a reminder that while they
may have been out of sight the agony goes on. Some days it may come as a dull ache at other times an excrutiating pain for
which there is no cure. Meanwhile they must concentrate on their two other children who need attention, love and routine.
How the McCanns deal with that while
trying to live with the hole once filled by exuberant Maddy is summed up in one word - hope.
Whether their passionate belief that
she is out there and can be found is based on faith or the mysterious strength of a mother's love and intuition we only can
guess.
But if the McCanns have not sunk
into despair then nor should we.
Last Christmas the nation prayed
for a miracle to bring home the beautiful blonde girl we felt we all knew.
This year we know her a little better,
and the longing to see her back where she belongs is even more acute. If all we can do is pray, let's do it again. If not
just for Maddy, then for hope itself.
As for forgiveness?
I listened, on the anniversary of
the Lockerbie disaster, to the father of a 19-year-old student killed on doomed Pan Am flight 103 to New York, explaining
in a radio interview how he's forgiven the terrorist responsible for murdering his daughter.
I'm ashamed to say it but my first
thought was "Why?" Just as it was 21 years ago when I interviewed Gordon Wilson who, only hours before we met, had lost his
daughter in an IRA bomb at Enniskillen. To compound the crime it was Remembrance Day.
"I bear no ill will,'' said Gordon.
"Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring Marie back to life.''
We're told forgiveness brings comfort,
alleviates bitterness and help victims move on.
But can anyone blame Melanie Jones,
whose 11-year-old son Rhys was gunned down in the street by gun-toting gang member Sean Mercer, for admitting, though it grieves
her, that she hates the thug who destroyed her boy?
The woman who brought up Rhys in
a home where he knew nothing but love and affection says: "I'm not the kind of person who hates. It's an ugly emotion I don't
really want to have.
"But the hatred is overpowering and
it's taken me by surprise."
Even at Christmas, forgiveness is
a virtue which can be overrated. And yes, Melanie is right. Hatred is an "ugly emotion'' but I suspect it's the only one Mercer
would recognise.
Forgiveness? It wouldn't even register.
McCanns must move on, 23 December 2008
McCanns must move on The Sun (appears
in paper edition only)
Fergus Shanahan - Deputy Editor
23 December 2008
IT was unnerving hearing Madeleine
McCann's voice for the first time on the video her parents have released.
Kate and Gerry face predictable carping
for not having put out the film when Maddie was snatched. Their critics should bear in mind that the McCanns almost certainly
acted on advice not to flood the media with too many pictures.
Realistically, Maddie is gone, and
for their own sanity the McCanns should make this appeal their last.
Madeleine McCann: Police follow new leads, 30 December 2008
Madeleine McCann: Police follow new leads Daily Mirror
By Rod Chaytor
30/12/2008
Callers
claiming to have fresh information on missing Madeleine McCann have come forward after a new appeal by her parents.
Potential sightings and other leads
are being followed up by a British team of former detectives who specialise in cold cases.
Parents Kate and Gerry, both 40,
were delighted with the public response to their Christmas appeal, when they released a previously unseen video of their daughter.
Thousands logged on to www.findmadeleine.com
to hear the couple's message: "This is our second Christmas without Madeleine. Please help us make sure we don't have a third."
Their spokesman said yesterday: "Kate
and Gerry are pleased because the new material has achieved the desired response."
The couple spent Christmas at home
in Rothley, Leics, with their twins, three. Madeleine vanished in Portugal days before her fourth birthday.
McCanns' pleased with appeal
response, 02 January 2009
Madeleine McCann's parents said they are pleased with the response to a Christmas
television appeal for information on their daughter's disappearance.
Kate and Gerry McCann, from
Rothley, released a video featuring previously unseen footage of their daughter in the run up to Christmas.
It included clips filmed
during Christmas 2006 – the last time Mr and Mrs McCann were together with all three of their children over the festive
period.
In the video, the couple
asked for people to help them make this their last Christmas without their daughter.
Madeleine was nearly four
when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, on May 3 last year.
Today, McCann family spokesman
Clarence Mitchell said: "There has been a good response in the wake of the video. Kate and Gerry are very pleased.
"The video achieved its
aim of reminding a great number of people at this time of year of Madeleine and that the family still need help."
The video showed Madeleine
sitting on the stairs of the family home, flanked by her younger siblings, twins Sean and Amelie.
It also featured the first
recording of Madeleine speaking which has been made public.
On their website, Mr and
Mrs McCann said the amount of public support in recent months had got them through a difficult Christmas. Thanking everyone
for the "solidarity" that had helped maintain their "strength and our hope" they said it was now crucial that they did everything
they possibly could to find their little girl.
They said: "Reassuringly,
we know there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Madeleine has been seriously harmed – and this has
been further confirmed after studying the recently-released Portuguese police files.
"In light of this, we passionately
believe there is a very strong likelihood that Madeleine is out there and can be found.
"Like any family who suddenly
find themselves in such a confusing and terrifying situation, we don't know if any of us could have got through all this without
the public support."
Although Mr and Mrs McCann
do not appear on the video, it features a direct appeal from them stating: "Christmas is a time for children. Please help
bring our daughter back. This will be our second Christmas without our daughter.
"Please help us make sure
we don't have a third."
Mr Mitchell would not give
further details on what information had been received following the appeal, but said it was being analysed.
Portuguese police closed
their inquires into the disappearance in July, due to lack of evidence.
However, the McCanns are
continuing their search vowing "to leave no stone unturned".
Rothley vicar Rob Gladstone,
from the church of St Matthew and St John, said Madeleine had been in the church's prayers, along with all other missing children.
