Madeleine McCann’s sister lit a candle in her memory last night as she joined her parents and well wishers on the poignant 16th anniversary of her disappearance.
Amelie, now 18, and applying to go to university was pictured for the first time since she was a toddler and gives a glimpse of what her older sibling may now look like as an adult, the Mirror reports.
The young woman was warmly welcomed along with Kate and Gerry by locals and supporters during an informal prayer gathering in their home village of Rothley, Leicestershire on Wednesday night. Her twin brother Sean did not attend.
READ MORE: Madeleine McCann latest as parents issue heartbreaking statement saying 'we await a breakthrough'
Amelie took her turn to light a candle for Maddie and other missing children at the war memorial where pictures of her sister adorned the black railing and where a lantern of hope still glows around the clock for her.
In a short but poignant statement, she said: “It’s nice that everyone is here together but it’s a sad occasion.”
Kate joined in prayers but neither she nor Gerry addressed the crowds.
Kate’s close friend Fiona Payne, one of her "Tapas Seven” pals who was on the fateful holiday in Portugal when three-year-old Maddie vanished in May 2007, was among the crowd.
Fiona, a doctor, read a moving poem “Hope is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson. She later shared a warm embrace with Kate.
Amelie, accompanied by her friend Georgina, joined in repeating mantras read out by individual people in the 70-strong crowd including “Never never give up”, “leave no stone unturned”, “don’t forget about me” and “still missing, still missed."
Kate and Gerry cling onto a glimmer of hope that Maddie, who would now be aged 19, nearly 20 , could still be alive
They marked the 16th anniversary of their daughter Madeleine's disappearance in a poignant post on the 'Official Find Madeleine Campaign' Facebook page.
The couple admitted their struggle to put their emotions into words and expressed their continued longing for her return.
They said: "Today marks the 16th anniversary [of Madeleine's disappearance]. Still missing…….still very much missed. It is hard to find the words to convey how we feel.
"The police investigation continues, and we await a breakthrough. Thank you to everyone for your support - it really helps. Kate and Gerry."
They also shared a heart-wrenching poem by Clare Pollard called 'The Contradiction,' which speaks of the pain of not being able to hold someone you miss so much, Mirror UK reports.
It reads: "You are not here, I’m not myself, but still I talk to you like this."
And adds: "I cannot hold you, yet I do: please let me hold you in my head and where you are now, hold me too."
The McCann's stated that the poem "resonates strongly with us".
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