To mark her 20th birthday, Maddie McCann’s parents have recently taken to social media to wish their missing daughter a happy birthday, while reaffirming that they will never “give up” looking for the toddler.
Maddie went missing from her bed at a resort while holidaying with her parents in Portugal on May 3, 2007. The case of the then three-year-old’s disappearance attracted considerable global attention.
As Kate and Gerry McCann hold out hope that their daughter is still out there somewhere, the couple has expressed the heartbreak that has plagued them since that fateful day in 2007 as they mark another milestone without their beloved daughter.
“Happy birthday Madeleine! We love you and we’re waiting for you. We’re never going to give up,” they wrote.
“Still missing. Still very much missed. Still looking. For as long as it takes.”
Many were quick to sympathise with the couple’s anguish with several wishing Maddie a happy birthday while expressing their hope that one day Maddie’s parents will get the answers they need.
“Happy Birthday little girl wherever you are. Hope your years have been peaceful knowing you were loved,” one person wrote.
“Still praying for Madeline.”
“Thinking of you all at this time xx,” another commented.
“This is so sad for her family. I pray that one day they will get answers.”
The birthday message follows shortly after the McCanns marked the 16th anniversary of Maddie’s disappearance, delivering a heartbreaking message to mark the solemn occasion on Facebook.
“Today marks the 16th anniversary of Madeleine’s abduction,” they wrote.
“Still missing…….still very much missed. It is hard to find the words to convey how we feel.”
The couple also shared a poem titled The Contradiction which they claimed “resonates strongly” with them.
The pair closed out their post with a sincere thank you to the public for their ongoing support as they continue the search for their daughter.
“The police investigation continues, and we await a breakthrough. Thank you to everyone for your support – it really helps,” they said.
The heartbreaking messages from the McCanns come after a Polish woman, Julia Faustyna, dominated global headlines recently with her repeated claims that she is the missing toddler.
In one of her initial posts to Facebook, Faustyna claimed, “I think I can be Madeleine.”
“I don’t remember my childhood practically at all, but I do have a few memories,” she said.
“The earliest of these are vacations – I remember baby turtles (turtles hatch in May/June just from what I’ve read) and white apartment blocks, a bar where there was a performance by some ladies in costumes (folk costumes, I think, I don’t know), but I completely don’t recall my mother being there, for example, or my stepfather, much less my dad.
“I have a defect in my eye, in the same eye, the kind of defect Madeleine had.
“What I really need is the truth.”
After Faustyna’s claims were challenged by investigators, her family, and the general public, the 21-year-old provided samples for DNA testing which found that she wasn’t the missing British toddler.
The investigation into Maddie’s disappearance remains ongoing.