Madeleine McCann’s parents share heartbreaking message to mark her 20th birthday and say ‘we’re waiting for you’

THE parents of missing Madeleine McCann have shared a heartbreaking message to mark her 20th birthday.

The then three-year-old girl disappeared on May 3, 2007, while on vacation with her family in Praia da Luz.

Her parents Kate and Gerry McCann are today marking her birthday at a small family gathering.

And in Facebook post they shared their hopes of one day seeing their daughter again.

They wrote: “Happy birthday Madeleine! We love you and we’re waiting for you. We’re never going to give up.”

The pair also shared a photo taken of the tot while on holiday before she vanished.

They captioned the snap: “She’s still missing, still missed and we are never going to give up trying to find her.”

Since disappearing on the evening of May 3, 2007, no one has been able to find Madeleine or conclusive proof she is either dead or alive.

It comes after Maddie's sister lit a candle exactly 16 years after her disappearance earlier this month.

Amelie, 18, accompanied by pal Georgina, was pictured for the first time since she was a toddler.

Kate and Gerry were also among dozens of wellwishers at the prayer gathering in their home village of Rothley, Leics on May 3.

But Amelie's twin brother Sean did not attend.

Amelie, whose older sister, then three, vanished on holiday in Portugal, said: “It’s nice that everyone is here together but it’s a sad occasion.”

Madeleine's parents told how they are waiting for a breakthrough as they paid a poignant tribute to the missing girl to mark 16 years since her disappearance.

It comes after German prosecutors announced they were dropping rape charges against suspect Christian B as they did not have jurisdiction over him.

Christian B, 45, is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Germany over the rape of a pensioner in Praia da Luz, the same area in Portugal where Maddie went missing.

Based on evidence that was uncovered during the investigation he was then charged with three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of the sexual abuse of children allegedly committed in Portugal at the time she went missing.

These charges have now been dropped by the Braunschweig court but it's believed another German court could take charge of the case and that Maddie's case should remain unaffected.

However German prosecutors were slammed by a former private detective for the McCanns, who said the case had damaged Scotland Yard's probe into the missing girl.

Julian Peribañez, who was hired by the McCann family to find Madeleine after her disappearance in Portugal in 2007, criticised prosecutors, claiming their handling of the case shows they have "no evidence".

Earlier in the year a Polish woman named Julia Wandelt came forward claiming to be Madeleine McCann but a DNA test found her to be Polish.

She later apologised to the family before becoming embroiled in a police investigation over allegations of indecent images being found on her phone.

In more positive news for the family, it was reported in March that police investigating the case are set to get hundreds of thousands of pounds in new funding.