On Saturday, one year has past since Madeleine McCann went missing in Praia da Luz, Portugal, and the search continues.
Madeleine’s parents Gerry and Kate told the BBC today that they haven’t given up on the search for Madeline. Kate McCann said: “We need to find Madeleine, that’s what keeps us going.”
And although the couple is still official suspects, their contact with the Portuguese Police is almost non existent. Gerry McCann said: “We would very much like to know what exactly has been done, what hasn’t been done, who’s been eliminated and on what ground, what leads are still being actively followed.”
Earlier this month, the couple delivered a presentation to the European Parliament appealing for an Europe wide alert scheme for missing children. Gerry McCann said today: “We were saying stuff like if the borders had been alerted, ports and various things. Your worry is, that child is going to be moved and moves quickly far away from the scene of the crime.”
And as Europe was shocked by yet another horrifying kidnapping story earlier this week when the 73 year old Austrian Josef Fritzl was arrested after keeping his daughter captured in his basement for 24 years and fathered her seven children. And in relation to the former kidnapping victim Natascha Kampusch which was found after being held in a basement cell for eight years, the McCann’s appeal for a European alert scheme could not be more important.
Natascha Kampusch spoke today in her first British television interview with the BBC, about Austria’s latest abuse scandal. She said: “I think it can happen everywhere and it also exists everywhere, not just in Austria.”
May 1, 2008 at 4:01 pm
This is a really great story. I think it’s shocking that the McCann’s are still being held suspect. The more public appearances they make and the more media attention they draw to themselves, the less likely it becomes that they had anything to do with their own daughter’s kidnapping.