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KATE and
Gerry McCann have faced a harrowing three-and-a-half year search for
their young daughter
Madeleine. And the couple have finally lost
patience with the lack of progress made by the police, saying they have
had enough of "fluffy, worthless words" and calling for a full case
review into her disappearance
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Kate and Gerry McCann want a full review of the case - and
are appealing again for the public's help. Picture: PA |
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Madeleine has been
missing since 3 May, 2007, when, aged three, she was taken as she slept
alongside her younger
twin brother and sister in
Praia da Luz in the
Algarve, Portugal. Her parents had been dining with friends at a nearby
tapas bar within their holiday complex at the time.
The McCanns, both doctors, have never given up hope their daughter will
be found. But yesterday they launched a petition to lobby the UK and
Portuguese governments for a joint or independent review of the case,
saying they wanted "action" and "somebody to do something".
Glasgow-born Mr McCann, said: "Essentially for the last three and a half
years, the authorities have not been doing anything proactive to help
Madeleine. That is despite our best efforts to encourage them to do so.
"I don't think it's right that the onus should fall on us - the
authorities really should be doing more."
Mrs McCann said: "I don't want to be appeased, and that's what I feel
we're getting at the moment.
"We need action. I don't need fluffy, worthless words. We need somebody
to do something.
"Madeleine is still missing, she's a little girl, her
abductor is still
out there, so by not carrying on, we are putting other children at risk.
I think more needs to be done."
The McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have met former home
secretaries Alan Johnson and Jacqui Smith, as well as current Home
Secretary
Theresa May, to discuss the issue and to ask for a review of
the case.
Mr Johnson commissioned a "scoping exercise" by the Child Exploitation
and Online Protection Centre to see if a review would be helpful. Mrs
McCann said when they met him, they felt they were making progress, but
now they did not even know if the report had been read.
"There has not been a formal case review and I think for such a serious
case like this, and with the profile of it and international aspects,
that should be carried out," Mr McCann said.
"The onus is on
the UK and Portuguese authorities to sort that out.
"I think the best thing is for this case to be solved, and at the
moment, the authorities are not doing anything proactive to try and do
that."
Portuguese police
launched a massive investigation with the support of British officers,
but the inquiry was formally shelved in July 2008 without reaching any
firm conclusions about Madeleine's fate.
During the investigations, various theories were put forward, and there
were claims Madeleine had died in the
holiday flat and that her blood
had been found in her parents'
hired car.
Local resident
Robert Murat was given "arguido" (suspect) status, as
were the McCanns, and the couple underwent lengthy questioning by the
authorities. All three were cleared of involvement in July 2008
Private detectives
employed by the McCanns are continuing to investigate
the case.
As well as the petition, the couple are appealing for continued
financial support for the official
Find Madeleine fund, due to run out
in spring 2011.
Speaking about how the family was coping, Mrs McCann said: "(The twins]
Sean and Amelie are great, they are doing really well, they seem to have
taken everything on board and coped really well. Maybe that's one of the
attractions of youth really."
She added: "We're doing okay, we make the best of it. Life is not normal
- I guess it's a new kind of normal." |
