You've probably heard about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann,
but what do you know about her parents and the media circus that revolved around them?
In May 2007, just a few days shy of her 4th birthday, Madeleine McCann vanished
from her bedroom while her family visited Praia de Luz, Portugal.
Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were having dinner near their rented apartment with friends
while Madeleine and her younger siblings slept. The McCanns and their friends took
turns going back to their apartments to check in on their children. At one point during the night,
Kate checked in on her children. That was when she discovered Madeleine was gone.
The disappearance of Madeleine McCann fascinated the world in 2007 and continues
to do so even today. In the aftermath, the McCanns immediately set up a website
and asked for donations and public tips to find their daughter. In those months,
the world was gripped with Madeleine's story; her parents were everywhere. They
appeared on TV constantly, while print reporters hounded them. Their every move,
particularly Kate's, was dissected. Many people seemed to believe that, somehow,
their actions in public would lead to some sort of answer as to where their daughter might be.
The McCanns met in 1993 in Glasgow, Scotland. Both studied medicine: Kate at the University
of Dundee and Gerry at the University of Glasgow. They married in 1998 and had their first child,
Madeleine, in 2003. Their twin children, Sean and Amelia, were born in 2005.
Gerry focused on cardiology while Kate worked as a general practitioner, though she attempted
to practice in gynecology and anesthetics. Gerry continues to work in the field and also took up
research positions in experimental medicine. He also has expertise in cardiac imaging. On that
fateful vacation to Portugal, the McCanns were joined by several friends they had met through
work. Most of the group were also doctors and had all worked in hospitals in England.
"Please, if you have Madeleine, let her come home to her mummy, daddy, brother, and sister."
Madeleine McCann's disappearance took a sensational turn when Portuguese authorities
threw suspicion towards the McCanns. For a while,
police considered them persons of interest, though they were never charged with any crime.
But it was the public that dealt the most damage to the family. Twitter started to gain traction
in 2007, and the McCanns were the first target of trolls. People hurled abuses towards them,
despite neither Kate nor Gerry having a social media presence. For the public,
the McCanns' stoicism meant they were guilty; it later turned out the McCanns had been advised not
to show emotion, because the kidnapper or killer might find joy in their pain.
The McCanns later testified during the Leveson Inquiry on the actions of the
media in the wake of Madeleine's disappearance. The inquiry found
tabloid editors had become obsessed with the family, and eventually led
to an unprecedented apology from British tabloid newspapers such as The Daily Express.
Early on in their ordeal, the McCanns established Madeleine's Fund, a charity
meant to raise money for help in the search for their daughter. Since the public inquiry into
Madeleine McCann's disappearance officially ended in 2008, the fund now pays a small team of private
investigators. The fund also set up Facebook pages to help gather tips from the public.
The fund is run by a board of directors that includes the McCanns themselves,
and saw donations from a number of British celebrities. After U.K. newspapers apologized
for their treatment of the McCanns, a sizable donation was also made in their name.
Through their involvement with the fund,
the McCanns became friends with a number of well-known personalities. TV host Denise
Welch even invited Kate McCann to attend the show Dancing on Ice, although Kate declined,
saying online trolls would latch onto any moment of fun enjoyed by the family.
For many families, going back to the scene of their trauma would be impossible,
but the McCanns return to Praia de Luz as much as they can. In an interview with the BBC,
Kate McCann said she finds solace in her visits.
"It's obviously the last place we were with Madeleine,
and I still walk those streets and try to look for answers."
To give a bit of background to the incident: The McCanns had been on vacation in the small resort
town of Praia de Luz when Madeleine disappeared. They were only about 100 yards away from their
villa dining when she simply vanished from her room. One of the only physical clues
to the case was an opened window - that the McCanns testified was closed prior to their
dining that evening. The case became a media circus as the investigation reached full swing,
though it's only recently that media interest in the area has picked up again. In May of 2023,
Portuguese police began searching an area about 30 miles from the crime scene.
Ten years after Madeleine McCann went missing, British authorities were still pursuing leads.
Reports soon emerged of a "significant line of inquiry," as assistant commissioner Mark
Rowley said in a statement. His statement also exonerated four past suspects and could
offer no insight into whether Madeleine was alive or dead, but did confirm an active and
ongoing investigation. Madeleine's parents marked the anniversary in their own way,
issuing a statement on their website and sitting down for an interview with
Fiona Bruce. The McCanns said that they hadn't lost hope that their daughter was still alive.
"My hope for Madeleine being out there is no less than it was almost 10 years ago."
Kate added that she still marks Madeleine's birthday by buying her presents, as she does
at Christmas. But the McCanns also said that they had tried to keep life moving
for the sake of their twins, who they wanted to have a normal life.
In 2020, German police announced that they believed they had found new evidence about
Madeleine. This revelation, along with the release of a Netflix documentary,
renewed public interest in the case and the family.
At the time, the German police said they believed a German man in their custody killed Madeleine.
The case remains active as investigators are looking for possible accomplices,
including a man who called the suspect the night Madeleine vanished. The McCanns, however,
have vowed that they will continue to look for Madeleine while the investigation continues.
In 2022, German authorities announced that they had discovered new evidence,
and that is what partially led to the May 2023 search along a hillside in Portugal.
Today, Gerry McCann remains a doctor and a cardiovascular consultant at the University
of Leicester. Kate McCann left medicine, but now works with children's charities.