From The Times
December 22, 2007

David Brown

The mother of Madeleine McCann has recorded an emotional Christmas message for her missing daughter and begged the girl’s abductor to let her return home.

Kate McCann and her husband, Gerry, recorded their message in front of the Christmas tree at their Leicestershire home in the hope that it will been seen by their daughter. The couple and their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie, have not seen Madeleine since she disappeared from their Portuguese holiday apartment.

Mrs McCann, a GP, says in the recording: “Madeleine, it’s Mummy and Daddy here. Just know how much we love you, Madeleine. We all miss you so much. Sean and Amelie talk about you all the time every day.

“We are doing everything we can, Madeleine, to find you and there are so many good and very kind people helping us.

“Be brave sweetheart. Our only Christmas wish is for you to be back with us again and we are hoping and praying that that will happen.

“Love you, Madeleine.” The recording has been released today for all broadcasters worldwide as part of a campaign to maintain awareness of Madeleine’s disappearance shortly before her fourth birthday. The video also includes three clips of Madeleine filmed last Christmas that have not been seen publicly before. In one she is shown excitedly opening a parcel containing the same pink bag she took on holiday in Praia da Luz in May. In another she is carrying a gift from her to her brother Sean, while in a third she is standing on the kitchen table.

Mrs McCann makes a direct appeal to the man that they insist abducted Madeleine from her bed at the Ocean Club resort while they dined with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant. “We understand that you may be staying silent because of fear for yourself or through misguided loyalty to other people,” she says. “But you must understand that you hold the key to ending all this despair and anguish, for both us and Madeleine.

“At this time of year, when so many families are coming together, we beg you to help us be reunited with Madeleine. Please do the right thing and come forward.”

Her husband, a consultant cardiologist, says: “This special time of year is all about families coming together with love and peace. Clearly for us and the rest of our family it is going to be the hardest Christmas imaginable without Madeleine here.”

He adds: “Since Madeleine was taken from us on May 3, someone knows what happened to her and may well know where she is now. That person has it within their power to show us the compassion to end this terrible ordeal for us.”

Madeleine’s parents have not revealed what they have bought their daughter for Christmas but wellwishers have sent hundreds of cards and gifts.

Writing in his internet blog this month, Mr McCann said that the family would be having a very quiet Christmas, attempting to preserve as much normality for Sean and Amelie.

“Despite not yet being 3, they both seem to understand they will be getting presents from Santa,” he said. “They have also asked if Santa will be bringing Madeleine home, which just about broke our hearts.”

Mr and Mrs McCann, both 39, are still regarded as official suspects by the Portuguese police. Detectives are expected in the new year to reinterview the couple and some of the seven British friends with whom they were dining when Madeleine disappeared.

The head of a firm of Spanish private detectives hired by the McCanns to find Madeleine said last week that he knows who abducted her and that he hoped that she would be back with her parents by Christmas. Francisco Marco, of the Metodo 3 agency, believes that Madeleine was abducted on behalf of a gang that is holding her alive on the Iberian peninsula or in Morocco.

Searches, suspects and ‘sightings’

— Robert Murat, an English expatriate, made official suspect on day 13 of the inquiry

— Kate and Gerry McCann were made suspects by Portuguese police on September 7

— There have been 2,830,000 website references to Madeleine McCann

— The findmadeleine.com website has received more than 50 million visits

— £1.1million has been donated by the public to the Find Madeleine Fund

— Rewards of £2.6million have been offered for the safe return of Madeleine

— 3,335 articles referring to Madeleine have appeared in British national newspapers since she disappeared

— Reports of sightings have come from Spain, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Morocco, Malta and Britain

— A confidential hotline manned by private detectives is open in Spain on 00 34 902 300 213

— Private detectives paid £50,000 a month for an international search

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3085217.ece

I feel sad for the McCanns and I hope Madeleine can be returned to
England alive, safe and well.

I don't have any sympathy for them, it's their own fault. They left their 3 kids who are all under 4, alone in a foreign country so that they could get their drink on. And why the hell is this case receiving so much attention? How many other kids have gone missing in the world since then and how much media attention have they gotten?

Why there is so much hatred directed toward these two people? What have
they done to you all personally? I realize they were not smart in their decision
they made to leave those children unattended, but they have apologized
numerous times for their lack of judgement on that night. Other parents
have done this sort of thing and they learn a lesson from it and turn out to
still be good parents. Parents will make mistakes from time to time. Some of
you probably aren't parents yourself and until you put yourself in their shoes
and feel what it is like, you have no right to judge. Some of you all on here
expect human beings to be 100% perfect and do not allow mistakes to be
made on the part of the human race. Please, just leave the McCanns alone.

i feel sorry that their child was kidnapped. but i'm sorry, leaving your 4-year old in a hotel room alone, in a FOREIGN COUNTRY, is an extremely stupid thing to do, so i think that they have to take a lot of the blame for this.

and yes, parents make mistakes, but truly good parents don't leave their four-year-old little girl alone in a hotel room. thats not a mistake, that's stupidity.

again, i feel sorry that their child was kidnapped, but a lot of the blame lays on them.

I believe they did it but that's beside the point.

My heart breaks whenever I see that little angel's face. I pray for a miracle.. I pray that she is still alive.

Why there is so much hatred directed toward these two people? What have
they done to you all personally? I realize they were not smart in their decision
they made to leave those children unattended, but they have apologized
numerous times for their lack of judgement on that night. Other parents
have done this sort of thing and they learn a lesson from it and turn out to
still be good parents. Parents will make mistakes from time to time. Some of
you probably aren't parents yourself and until you put yourself in their shoes
and feel what it is like, you have no right to judge. Some of you all on here
expect human beings to be 100% perfect and do not allow mistakes to be
made on the part of the human race. Please, just leave the McCanns alone.
A mistake is forgetting to feed your cat or going to the grocery store and leaving your money in the car. Leaving three infants alone in another country is nothing short of insanity. As far as I'm concerned, those two should have their other children taken away by social workers. What kind of parents do that?

I don't have any sympathy for them, it's their own fault. They left their 3 kids who are all under 4, alone in a foreign country so that they could get their drink on. And why the hell is this case receiving so much attention? How many other kids have gone missing in the world since then and how much media attention have they gotten?
Amen boyfriend. I feel sorry for the little girl, though. But it's unfair they're getting so much attention when the parents made a dumbass decision, and so many other children go missing and the media doesn't give a damn.

i feel sorry that their child was kidnapped. but i'm sorry, leaving your 4-year old in a hotel room alone, in a FOREIGN COUNTRY, is an extremely stupid thing to do, so i think that they have to take a lot of the blame for this.

and yes, parents make mistakes, but truly good parents don't leave their four-year-old little girl alone in a hotel room. thats not a mistake, that's stupidity.

again, i feel sorry that their child was kidnapped, but a lot of the blame lays on them.

i so agree with you joe. i'm sorry but the fault lies with the parents- if they had hired a babysitter-which they chose not to do or made use of the babysitting services then none of this would've happened in the first place.

and as for the backlash, the mccanns are a rich family- the parents are doctors. if a set of poor or working class parents- be it white, black asian or whatever- had done what the mccanns did, would many people around the world be donating gifts and money to them? of course not- therefore, because of their status of poor people.,they would be ripped to shreds by the media and the public and they will get a sackload of abuse. plus, because of the mccanns actions it sends a message to the rest of us, it is okay to leave your kids unattended whilst out on the piss and not hire a babysitter to look after them- which is unacceptable and downright stupid, naive and careless :mad:

not to mention, the constant attention surrounding the mccanns is obscene, given that there are thousands more kids in the US and around the world who go missing every year- and yet we don't hear and read anything on them. why? its because of two factors- race and class.

I don't have any sympathy for them, it's their own fault. They left their 3 kids who are all under 4, alone in a foreign country so that they could get their drink on. And why the hell is this case receiving so much attention? How many other kids have gone missing in the world since then and how much media attention have they gotten?

the reason they are getting so much attention is because the parents are rich, are doctors and because they are white. its hard not to use the race and class cards but in this instance, it is the truth

A mistake is forgetting to feed your cat or going to the grocery store and leaving your money in the car. Leaving three infants alone in another country is nothing short of insanity. As far as I'm concerned, those two should have their other children taken away by social workers. What kind of parents do that?

the type of whom are stupid enough to turn their backs on their kids and who feel it is something to be proud of but yes, of course they should have their other kids taken away from them but the thing is unfortunately, social workers only concerntrate on poor or working class families. very rarely do they resort to the measure when dealing with parents who are doctors, lawyers or whatever profession where he/she make a lot of money out of what they do for a living. they target and pick on poor or lower income parents. nevertheless, neglect is neglect and no matter what social class people are, they should be treated the same. but the middle and upper classes get away with things like this too often compared to working or lower class people.

another thing that bothers me is why didn't the portugese police charge the mccanns with neglect earlier? if this had happened in the US you would bet your bottom dollar the mccanns would've faced neglect charges already