Reuters) - The parents of Madeleine McCann demanded a
review of the case of their missing daughter on Wednesday, saying they
were sick of "fluffy, useless words" from government officials.
Kate
McCann and her husband Gerry said the British and Portuguese
governments
were not doing enough to find
Madeleine, who was snatched from a
holiday apartment
in Portugal 3-1/2 years ago when she was three years old.
"The public
think our government and the Portuguese are still searching for her,"
Gerry told The
Sun
newspaper. "But the truth is that only our
private
investigators
are.
"We feel
badly let down. Madeleine is still missing, there is still an abductor
out there."
The couple
said the Portuguese police effectively stopped searching for Madeleine a
few weeks after she disappeared in May 2007 and they took over, drawing
on public support to their "Find
Madeleine Fund."
This week,
they launched an online petition urging the two governments to review
the case. The formal inquiry was closed in July 2008.
"I am fed
up with fluffy, useless words,"
Kate McCann told the Sun. "The evidence
is spread all over the place -- we have certain pieces, the Portuguese
police have certain pieces. But without putting them together we can't
do anything."
The
McCanns, both 42, said they only have enough money to pay private
investigators until next spring.
But they
said they would not give up."There is absolutely no evidence that
Madeleine has been physically harmed. We must keep looking for her and
those who took her," Gerry said. "No parent would ever give up on their
child."
A Home
Office spokesman said: "The government wants to ensure that everything
feasible is being done to progress the search for Madeleine. The British
authorities will maintain a dialogue with the Portuguese and continue to
liaise with Madeleine's family on any developments."
(Reporting
by Anna Yukhananov; Editing by Steve Addison) |