The McCanns' Timeline
This is one of the
last photos of
Madeleine McCann,
right, taken May 3,
2007, less than
eight hours before
she disappeared.
Just shy of her
fourth birthday,
Madeleine vanished
from an apartment in
Praia da Luz, a
sunny seaside town
in the Algarve
region of Portugal,
where she and her
family were
vacationing. The
night she
disappeared, Gerry
and Kate McCann,
Madeleine's parents,
went to dinner with
friends at a nearby
restaurant. They
regularly checked in
on Madeleine and her
2-year-old twin
siblings, Sean and
Amelie, who were
napping in the
unlocked apartment.
(Kate McCann)
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The McCanns' Timeline
Gerry and Kate
McCann spoke to the
press May 4, 2007,
at the Ocean Club
apartment hotel in
Praia da Luz. Lt.
Col. Costa Gabral
told the gathered
press that Madeleine
vanished while her
parents were out to
dinner and could
have been abducted.
(VASCO CELIO/AFP/Getty
Images)
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The McCanns' Timeline
Olegario Sousa, the
detective in charge
of the case, spoke
during a press
conference May 10,
2007, in Portimao,
Portugal.
Investigators showed
Praia da Luz
residents
photographs of two
men and one woman
taken by a gas
station surveillance
camera the night of
Madeleine's
disappearance.
Madeleine's parents
said they were
trying to stay
positive and thanked
the hundreds of
police and
volunteers searching
for the girl.
(VASCO CELIO/AFP/Getty
Images)
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The McCanns' Timeline
On May 12, 2007,
Madeleine turned 4.
Her parents asked
people to "redouble
their efforts" to
help find their
daughter. The BBC
reported that
Madeleine's aunt,
Philomena McCann,
said Gerry and Kate
McCann would have a
"family day" to
honor their missing
daughter.
(AP Photo)
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The McCanns' Timeline
Gerry and Kate
McCann, devout
Catholics, visited
Pope Benedict XVI
May 30, 2007, in
Rome. During the
emotional meeting,
the pope blessed a
photograph of
Madeleine. "Today,
meeting the pontiff
was an experience
that has caused very
mixed emotions for
us," Gerry McCann
said during a press
conference. "In
ordinary
circumstances, it
would be a highlight
for any Catholic to
meet the pope. Of
course it's saddened
by the marked
realization that our
daughter is still
missing."
(CityFiles/WireImage/Getty
Images)
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The McCanns' Timeline
As word spread about
Madeleine's
disappearance, the
McCanns' hometown of
Leicestershire,
England, showed its
support.
Three-year-old Cally
prepares to add a
yellow ribbon to a
floral tribute for
missing Madeleine
McCann at the
Rothley War Memorial
May 21, 2007.
(MAX NASH/AFP/Getty
Images)
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The McCanns' Timeline
Gerry and Kate
McCann hold pyjamas
similar to those of
their daughter
Madeleine during a
press conference
June 6, 2007, in
Berlin. The McCann's
visited Germany to
raise awareness and
to ask German
tourists for help in
the search for their
missing daughter.
(CLEMENS BILAN/AFP/Getty
Images)
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The McCanns' Timeline
A candle is left
standing in the spot
where yellow ribbons
for missing
Madeleine McCann
were removed from
the railings at the
Rothley War Memorial
at Cross Green in
England July 31,
2007. "[It's] not
because in any way
we feel that we're
giving up hope or
the search is any
less than it was,"
said Brian Kennedy,
Madeleine's
great-uncle. "It's
as big as ever. In
fact, it's more
widespread than
anything, but [the
ribbons have] been
on the Green for a
long time and the
Green doesn't just
belong to us, it
belongs to
everyone."
(Matthew Lewis/Getty
Images)
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The McCanns' Timeline
On August 5, 2007, a
dozen Portuguese
police conducted a
new search of the
home of 33-year-old
British expatriate
Robert Murat, left,
one of three
suspects named by
Portuguese police.
His home is located
near the hotel from
where 4-year-old
Madeleine vanished.
Police later
announced that the
search yielded
nothing. Murat's
mother spoke out in
November 2007,
telling the BBC that
her son was with her
throughout the
evening of May 3,
2007, the day
Madeleine
disappeared. British
newspaper The
Observer reported
April 13, 2008, that
Murat is seeking
record monetary
damages from British
media for allegedly
defaming him.
(FRANCISCO LEONG/AFP/Getty
Images)
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The McCanns' Timeline
On Sept. 7, 2007,
Kate McCann leaves
the headquarters of
the Portuguese
criminal police
department after she
was questioned in
Portimao. Gerry
McCann dismissed the
suggestion that his
wife was involved in
Madeleine's
disappearance,
saying it was
"ludicrous" and
adding that Kate
McCann was
"completely
innocent."
A family spokesman
said that police
believe Kate McCann
was involved in the
accidental death of
her daughter, to
which Madeleine's
grandmother
described as
"absurd." Days
later, Portuguese
prosecutors said
they found no new
evidence to justify
further questioning
of the McCanns.
(FRANCISCO LEONG/AFP/Getty
Images)
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The McCanns' Timeline
Kate and Gerry
McCann returned to
Britain from
Portugal with their
2-year-old twins
Sept. 9, 2007,
insisting they were
not behind
Madeleine's
disappearance after
Portuguese police
named them as
suspects.
(RUI VIEIRA/AFP/Getty
Images)
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The McCanns' Timeline
On Oct. 25, 2007,
Kate and Gerry
McCann released a
sketch of the man
they believe
abducted their
daughter. The image
shows a man carrying
a child in his arms
and was drawn by an
FBI-trained forensic
artist from the
eyewitness account
of Jane Tanner, one
of the friends who
dined with Gerry and
Kate McCann on the
evening Madeleine
disappeared. Tanner
told the BBC she saw
the man near the
McCanns' apartment
complex around 9:15
p.m. Nearly an hour
later, Tanner found
out that Madeleine
was missing.
(McCann family/PA
Wire/AP Photo)
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The McCanns' Timeline
McCann family
spokesman Clarence
Mitchell holds two
artists' impression
of a new suspect
Jan. 20, 2008, in
London. The
description came
from British woman
Gail Cooper, who was
staying with her
family close to the
McCann's apartment
in Praia da Luz.
(Daniel Berehulak/Getty
Images)
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The McCanns' Timeline
British newspapers
Daily Express and
Daily Star printed
front-page apologies
March 19, 2008, to
Kate and Gerry
McCann for
publishing false
allegations. The
Express Newspapers
group published more
than 100 articles
containing
inaccuracies in four
of their newspapers
regarding the case
of the missing
McCann girl.
(Cate Gillon/Getty
Images)
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The McCanns' Timeline
Gerry and Kate
McCann hold a news
conference after a
meeting at the
European parliament
in Brussels April
10, 2008, nearly a
year after Madeleine
disappeared. The
McCann's addressed
the parliament to
help launch a new
EU-wide helpline for
missing children.
(Yves
Herman/Reuters) |
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