Six months on, McCanns in new Maddie plea

Published on Sunday 4 November 2007 00:14

THIS is Madeleine McCann just 20 days before her disappearance. Sitting on the back of a Shetland pony with her mother Kate by her side, the then three-year-old is shown smiling and relaxed.

The photograph was issued by Madeleine's parents, who attended a church vigil for their daughter last night, exactly six months after she went missing.

Kate and Gerry McCann, both 39, joined friends and villagers at the St Mary and St John church near their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, shortly before 9.30pm.

A spokesman for the McCanns said: "They are here to say prayers and nothing else. For them this is just another day without Madeleine."

The picture was taken on a day out at the Hatton Country World park in Warwickshire on April 13 - less than three weeks before she went missing.

Madeleine disappeared from her bed in the resort of Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3.

Almost two months after returning to their home town, and in the same week that Gerry McCann has gone back to his job as a consultant cardiologist, the family show no signs of giving up the search for Madeleine. Over the past six months, a number of theories have been put forward as to what happened on the night of Madeleine's disappearance, some of which have targeted Kate and Gerry McCann themselves as suspects.

However, the McCanns maintain their daughter was abducted.

Last week, Spanish private detectives hired by the McCanns investigated a sighting in Morocco of a blonde girl with a similar distinctive mark in one eye to Madeleine's.

In a statement, Kate McCann said: "Six months is such a long time for a little girl to be separated from her family. We believe that our Madeleine is out there somewhere and retain hope that we can be reunited. Madeleine is a beautiful little person who deserves a loving and happy life.

"If you have any information relating to Madeleine's disappearance or whereabouts please pass it on."