/ 16 September 2007

Friends hit out as McCanns renew Madeleine search

Kate and Gerry McCann, who are formal suspects over the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine, in Portugal, launched a new publicity campaign in Europe to help the search for the girl.

Friends of the couple also sought on Sunday to shift the focus back on to the search for the British toddler and away from speculation about the parents.

Friends of the 39-year-old mother came out to insist she was an exemplary parent who would never harm her children.

Newspaper speculation in Portugal and Britain has flown since the McCanns were named as arguidos — formal suspects — in Madeleine’s disappearance on May 3 as the family were on holiday in southern Portugal.

The status means they can no longer speak about the police investigation.

According to the McCann family, Portuguese police suspect Kate McCann was involved in the accidental death of her daughter and both parents then tried to cover it up.

The McCanns strongly deny any role in the disappearance of Madeleine, who was three years old when she vanished from her bedroom in an apartment in the resort of Praia da Luz.

Gerry McCann, a hospital cardiologist, and Kate McCann, a family doctor, were with friends at a restaurant less than 150m away.

One friend, Linda McQueen, said it was unthinkable that either parent would have harmed their eldest child.

“They are the most loving, caring, family-oriented couple that you could ever meet. They are absolutely fabulous. Those three children are the world to them.

“They had been up and down about with whether they could get pregnant and the in-vitro fertilisation and it was a dream come true. Kate always wanted a large family so it means the world to her. She is just a fabulous mum.”

McQueen recounted Kate McCann’s reaction after Madeleine vanished.

“I spoke to Kate at about 2am in the morning. We were texting back and forward. Kate was saying ‘Somebody’s taken Madeleine’. She was just shocked and traumatised. She was frantic, trying to get everything going,” she said.

Asked if the McCanns could cope if Madeleine was found dead, McQueen replied: “We are not even ready to go down that road.”

Nicky Gill, another childhood friend, added on the recent media treatment of Kate McCann: “I want people to know how Kate is and what she is like. To have these words said about her is just so unfair and hurtful. They just do not deserve it whatsoever.”

The new £80 000 publicity campaign will consist of newspaper, television and billboard adverts primarily in Portugal and Spain.

The blitz will be financed by Madeleine’s Fund, the non-profit organisation administering donations to aid the search.

The fighting fund has received more than £1-million in donations so far.

“The fund will finance a broad range of initiatives in advertising to remind everyone that Madeleine is still missing,” Gerry McCann’s brother John told a press conference in Rothley, central England, on Saturday.

Like Gerry and Kate McCann, John McCann lives in the Leicestershire village.

“This financing of advertisements will complement previous efforts by the fund and many motivated individuals — family, friends and people touched by our cause,” he said.

“I hope that the general public will continue to support us in this. It is so important that we remember ‘don’t you forget about me’ — our lovely wee Madeleine.”

The family said this week it would not use the fund to pay for the McCanns’ legal costs. The couple have hired high-profile law firms to fight their case. — AFP