Sixteen years on from her disappearance the parents of Madeleine McCann cling onto a glimmer of hope that she could be found.
The Mirror reports that search teams are scouring a reservoir in Portugal at the request of German detectives after receiving fresh information that could tie paedophile Christian Bruecker to the area. Brueckner, 45, is the prime suspect in Madeleine's disappearance but has reportedly denied any involvement.
However, he is said to have spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017. Investigators are adhering to a theory that he abducted Madeleine from a holiday resort as her parents dined with friends before killing her.
The PA news agency reports that uniformed and plain-clothed officers are using shovels and pickaxes to scour the banks at the Barragem do Arade, around 30 miles from Praia de Luz where Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007. She would now be 20 years old.
The Metropolitan Police says it has sent officers to Portugal to liaise with local law enforcement and to feed information back to Kate and Gerry McCann. The pair have never stopped in their pursuit of what happened to their first-born while also raising twins Amelie and Sean, now 18.
Kate and Gerry, who met in 1993 in Glasgow and married five years later, still live in Rothley, Leicestershire. The pair are devout Catholics, however Kate admitted her faith has been put to the test amid the trauma their family has faced.
In an extract from 2011 book, Madeleine, Kate said: "There have been many times when I've felt God has deserted me or that He has let Madeleine down. I've occasionally doubted His existence altogether. And yes, I've been angry with Him...
"For now, though, at least, my anger towards God seems to have subsided. I believe in Him and I still feel His presence."
The mum-of-three also stressed she believed "wherever Madeleine is, God is with her". The grief would test any marriage, and Kate admitted that her desire for intimacy "plummeted to zero" after Maddie went missing.
In her memoir, she wrote: "The first was my inability to permit myself any pleasure, whether it be reading a book or making love to my husband. The second stemmed from the revulsion stirred up by my fear that Madeleine had suffered the worst fate we could imagine: falling into the hands of a paedophile."
She went on to say that the thought of sex "repulsed" her after being "tortured" by such horrifying images. But she went on to credit her husband's understanding for the endurance of their long-term partnership as they continue to seek the truth about Madeleine's fate.
Kate, who received her degree in medicine at the University of Dundee, went on to quit her job as a GP, citing the stress of the ongoing search for her daughter. But it was reported in 2021 that she had returned to the NHS frontline during the coronavirus pandemic.
She is said to have worked as a doctor in hospitals in Leicester and was reported to be pleased to be "doing her little bit to help" as the city battled with soaring hospital admissions.
A pal told the Sun: "Kate's back working as a doctor. She's helping out at her local hospitals now and not doing any surgery work.
"She has thrown herself back into a full time job to assist others in need. There's such a demand for qualified medics during these unprecedented times."
Gerry, a cardiologist and research professor at the University of Leicester, was said to be working in the same hospital. Just weeks ago, Madeleine's sister Amelie joined her parents and well-wishers on the 16th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance. She said at the event: "It's nice that everyone is here together but it's a sad occasion."
Student Amelie lit a candle for her big sister and other missing children at the memorial. Amelie is said to be in the process of applying to university, but inevitably the absence of their sister has left a dark cloud over the lives of her and her brother.
In an interview with The Sun, Kate said Sean and Amelie have "grown up essentially without Madeleine". But she also told the Mirror that Sean vowed to her: "'When you're old, me and Amelie will look for Madeleine'."
She then revealed: "I was chatting to Amelie and she said, 'Mummy's sad because Madeleine is not here. But Amelie is here, and Amelie and Sean will always be here.'"
Speaking in her ambassador role for charity Missing People, Kate said about the twin teens: "They have their own friends and they keep busy and they're really sporty but their only wish is for their big sister to come home. We miss our complete family of five."
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