Madeleine McCann’s parents post new year message of hope as Scotland yard follow up ‘last throw of the dice’ lead
THE PARENTS of Madeleine McCann are hoping that a New Year "miracle" will reunite them with their daughter as they approach the milestone 10th anniversary without her.
Kate and Gerry have never given up hope that Maddie could still be alive and have started 2017 with renewed spirit and vigour.
A Facebook campaign promoting the hunt for their daughter, which they endorse, says in a new post: "We still have great hope and believe in miracles. Thank you for continuing to be by our side. Let's get her home."
As Scotland Yard are busy investigating one "last throw of the dice" lead in a bid to end the family's torment, a close friend said today: "Despite yet another Christmas without Madeline which was very difficult, Kate and Gerry have entered the New Year with a positive and upbeat frame of mind. They are confident the Metropolitan Police will give them the answers they are desperately seeking."
Detectives now have less than three months of guaranteed Government funding to continue to unravel an "important"; new tip.
The Sun on Sunday told last month how a source close to the investigation, codenamed Operation Grange, revealed they were working on a final theory that Maddie was kidnapped by a European trafficking gang.
The "spotters" are believed to have targeted the three-year-old, taking photographs of her, while she was playing on the beach and beside the pool at her family's apartment in Portugal's Praia da Luz in May 2007.
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Maddie, who has a distinct and un-operable blemish in her right eye where the pupil ruins into the iris, would now be 13.
Former GP Kate and heart doctor Gerry, both 48, posted a worldwide Christmas message, free for their daughter’s kidnapper and their friends and family to see.
They said: “Somebody knows. We just hope they find the courage and compassion to let us know too.”
The brave couple from Rothley, Leicestershire , wrote on the official Find Maddie website, that support from others will “keep us strong and afloat during the difficult months to come.”
The McCanns tried to make Christmas – their tenth without Maddie - “as happy a family occasion as possible” for the sake of their twins Sean and Amelie, who turn 12 in just one month. They thanked in an online message everyone “who hasn’t forgotten about Madeleine for their help and continued prayers.”
But in a fresh start to 2017 the page is open to promote the hunt for the missing girl and shows a montage of poignant photos of Maddie simply entitled “Have you seen me?”
Pictures include the iconic last known image of Maddie wearing pink sunhat and clutching tennis balls while on holiday and an age progression snap of how she may look aged nine.
And a striking poster pleads: “Please don’t hesitate. Contact local police immediately or contact Operation Grange.”
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