Madeleine McCann's parents say absence 'still aches' after 17 years

Madeleine McCann's parents have said her "absence still aches" on the 17th anniversary of her disappearance.

Madeleine, from Rothley in Leicestershire, was three when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal on 3 May 2007.

Kate and Gerry McCann released a statement on the Find Madeleine website on Friday.

"It's 17 years since Madeleine was taken from us," they said.

"It's hard to even say that number without shaking our heads in disbelief.

"Whilst we are fortunate in many ways and able to live a relatively normal and enjoyable life now, the 'living in limbo' is still very unsettling. And the absence still aches."

Madeleine vanished while on holiday with her parents, in the resort of Praia da Luz, after they left her and her younger twin siblings asleep in their apartment while they went out to dinner with friends nearby.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed up to a further £192,000 has been granted by the Home Office for the Scotland Yard investigation into Madeleine's disappearance.

The confirmation of the latest annual funding for Operation Grange was revealed in a parliamentary written answer by Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom.

He also said that as of March this year, the Metropolitan Police had spent £13.2 million investigating the high-profile case.

Responding to a parliamentary written question by Conservative peer Lord Black of Brentwood, Lord Sharpe said: "Operation Grange's special grant budget currently funds a team of three police officers and one member of police staff, all of whom operate on a part-time basis.

"Special grant funding is reviewed annually by the Home Office."

Christian Brückner, the prime suspect in Madeleine's disappearance, is currently on trial in Germany charged with unrelated sex offences, allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

The 47-year-old German spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

He is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape of an elderly woman at her home in the resort town in 2005.

He had denied all the charges against him and any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance.

In June last year, German prosecutors said they cannot yet link items seized in the fresh McCann searches with the investigation into her disappearance.

A large section of the Barragem do Arade area of the Algarve was cordoned in May 2023, around 30 miles from where Madeleine went missing.

Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, external, on X, external, or on Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk, external or via WhatsApp, external on 0808 100 2210.