Their worldwide search for Maddie - aged three when she disappeared
on holiday in Portugal in May 2007 - will be wound up because they will
no longer be able to pay specialist investigators when the money runs
out. Kate, 42, said: "It will be just me and Gerry left looking for
her."
Every spare moment has been devoted to the hunt. But Kate yesterday admitted that for the first time she fears they
may never find her.
Within weeks of Maddie being snatched from a holiday
apartment in
Praia da Luz, Portugal, money from the public poured in to boost the
Find Madeleine Fund.
At its height it stood at £2million. But now there is just £300,000
left.
Desperate for help, the couple are launching an online petition
asking the public to back them and demand the British and Portuguese
governments do more to find Madeleine.
And they have sent out "begging letters" to sponsors, including
author
JK Rowling, tycoon Richard Branson, comic Jack Dee and other
high-profile celebrities asking them to contribute to the fund. They hope the public will be touched by their plight and give too.
Clutching her husband's hand tightly, an emotional Kate admitted:
"There is only enough money in the Find Madeleine Fund to keep the hunt
going until spring 2011.
"When the money runs out we will not be able to pay the
investigators
helping us to find Madeleine. It will be just me and Gerry
left looking for her.
Search
"I just can't contemplate that. We've had many scares along the
way. But this is the first time we are really faced with that
happening."
The Portuguese police search for Maddie, aged three when she
vanished, was effectively called off after a few weeks.
Since September 2007 Kate and Gerry, both 42 from Rothley, Leics,
have been organising the hunt for her themselves. Kate gave up work as a
doctor to concentrate on the task.
Gerry, a heart surgeon, admits that at the current rate of
expenditure the Find Madeleine Fund has just months before it is broke.
Explaining how much the search for their daughter costs Gerry said
£1 pays for a multi-lingual call centre for an hour, £10 pays for 1,000
posters that are distributed across the world and £50 pays for the
running costs of a Portuguese investigation team for two hours.
He said: "Without our investigation team it would be almost
impossible.
"If the money does run out there would still be a helpline manned
by volunteers, email. But it would be very, very difficult. It would
essentially mean that any kind of pro-active search for Madeleine would
cease."
Contemplating the situation they face, Gerry begged: "Our little
girl is now seven years old, innocent, vulnerable and waiting to be
found. "Please, please help us."
But even if the funds go, and there is no further help from the
Portuguese and British governments, the McCanns will carry on their hunt
forever.
A strained looking Gerry, shaking his head, said: "No parent would
ever give up on their child. And we won't. As a parent you can't.
Children who were abducted have been found years later. We believe she
is out there, we just have to find her." Twisting her Find Madeleine wristband Kate agreed, saying: "No
parent could stop.
Feared
"If no one apart from us is looking then so be it."
But Kate also quietly admits that there have been times recently
when she has feared Maddie might never be found.
Kate bit her lip, and said: "There are more days now of thinking,
'Are we going to find her? How long is this going to go on for. Is this
our life now? Forever?' I have to face the fact that we may never find
her."
Kate says she also struggles to imagine what Maddie would look
like. She said: "I do try and picture her. I still see her best friends.
I look at them and think, 'Would she be that tall, that slim. Would she
be able to read? To write?'"
Kate also revealed how she still talks to her darling daughter. She
said: "I speak to her every day. I always have." But the agony and anguish remain - as does the hope.
Gerry said: "It's been an incredibly painful experience, it could
tear families apart, but we are very much together - focused on finding
Madeleine."
' You can donate to the search fund at
FindMadeleine.com |