Madeleine McCann was three when she vanished from a holiday flat in the Algarve
Vanished: Madeleine McCann was three when she vanished from a holiday flat in the Algarve in May 2007 while her parents dined with friends nearby
The mother of missing Madeleine McCann fears Home Secretary Theresa May is failing to act in the search for her.

Dr Kate McCann said she was ‘disappointed’ by Mrs May when they met three months ago.

She said: ‘There is an abductor out there who is free to take another child. Other children are at risk and nothing is being done.’

Mrs McCann, 42, was speaking after she and surgeon husband Gerry launched an online petition to lobby the British and Portuguese governments for a review of the case.

Yesterday, three days after the launch, the petition had been signed by more than 24,000 people.

The McCanns met Mrs May in the hope she would contact the Portuguese authorities over Madeleine, who was three when she vanished from a holiday flat in the Algarve in May 2007 while her parents dined with friends at a tapas bar nearby.

Mrs McCann said: ‘Theresa May said she didn’t want to make any commitment. It was disappointing.

‘I can’t get my head round the Government giving up on Madeleine. Why are missing children not important? They look for terrorists, why can’t they look for child abductors?

Demanding a review of evidence: Kate and Gerry McCann spoke about the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine at a news conference on November 2

‘Door-to-door enquiries need to be done and lots of people still need talking to. Portuguese police say the case will reopen if there is evidence but we have to generate the new evidence.’

Just before the Election in May, the McCanns met David Cameron who said that if he became Prime Minister, he would do what he could to help.

A report by Jim Gamble, of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, is thought to back the McCanns’ demand for a review of all the evidence.

Lack of support: Kate McCann says she fears Home Secretary Theresa May is failing to act in the search for her daughter Madelaine


The report was commissioned by the then Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson but not completed until the summer, when Mrs May became Home Secretary.

So far, the Home Office has refused to disclose the report’s recommendations. Mrs McCann, who has five-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, said: ‘There is no reason why the contents can’t be made available to us.

'They say some of it is sensitive but we are Madeleine’s parents, for goodness sake. We’ve said we will not divulge any of it except to help our investigators.’

Those investigators are paid for by the Find Maddie Fund, which has now dwindled to £300,000 and it is set to dry up within five months.

Portuguese police shelved an 18-month investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance after clearing her parents as formal suspects.

The Home Office said: ‘The Home Secretary has met Kate and Gerry and is deeply sympathetic to their situation. We will maintain a dialogue with the Portuguese and will continue to liaise with Madeleine’s family.’