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Today is Gerry McGann's 39th birthday. |
But the only figure on his mind will be the 33 days his daughter has been
missing.
And for him and his wife Kate it will be business as usual - desperately
seeking Madeleine
Such is their single-mindedness in the quest to find their little girl that Mr
McCann had forgotten what day it was until someone reminded him.
The couple will today leave Praia da Luz on the Algarve to embark on another leg of their
campaign to raise four-year-old Madeleine's profile around Europe - visiting Germany and Holland
before preparing to fly to Morocco
next week.
They will also record an appeal to be broadcast on the BBC Crimewatch
programme in Britain tonight
and conduct a series of TV interviews in Berlin
and Amsterdam.
The intention is to spread the word about their missing daughter throughout the
Continent. With trips to Rome and Madrid already behind them, they are targeting countries
with strong tourist links to the Algarve.
So today they will leave the country on a private jet donated by an anonymous
benefactor, and stay overnight in a Berlin
hotel.
Tomorrow - the same day as the G8 meeting of leading industrial nations
convenes - they plan to meet political figures and hold a press conference
before flying on to Amsterdam.
The couple lived with Madeleine in the Netherlands for a year, during
which time Mrs McCann was pregnant with the twins, Sean and Amelie.
After a series of interviews on Thursday, they will fly back to the Algarve in time for a jazz concert in Lagos, organised
independently in their daughter's name as an act of 'solidarity'.
The couple have decided not to take the twins with them, even though they will
be away for two nights.
Their family spokesman said the children would stay with Mr McCann's sister
Trish Cameron and her husband Sandy, as they have done for the past two trips.
"It is a stable loving environment for them here,' he said. 'Their welfare is the most important thing - it is too
much for them at their age."
Plans are also being made for a trip to Rabat in
Morocco,
possibly starting as soon as Sunday. The McCanns believe North Africa is an
important place to visit because of its proximity to Portugal.
Several ferries a day leave from Tarifa in Spain for the
35-minute crossing to Tangiers.
Morocco
has been mentioned repeatedly in the hunt for Madeleine, with a reported
sighting of a little girl seen with a couple.
Mari Olli, a Norwegian woman who lives in Fuengirola
on Spain's Costa del Sol,
said she thought she saw Madeleine on May 9 at a petrol station in Marrakesh.
She described a blonde girl who turned to the man with her and said: 'Can I see
mummy soon?'
Interpol and Leicestershire police investigated the claim and are thought to
have ruled out its significance.
But Mrs McCann is nevertheless still keen to visit the north
African country, which has long conducted underground trade in child abduction
and paedophile sex slavery.
A family source said. "Kate feels it is very important to go because if
you only focus on the European mainland you are missing out on a potentially
important piece of the jigsaw."
Before they leave today, the couple will seek to meet Portuguese police for a
progress report.
It was revealed yesterday that investigating officers have not had a single
meeting with them for the last 11 days despite the McCanns' requests for a
formal exchange of information.
The wall of silence means the couple are receiving most of their updates either
through British police or from news reports - and they have had no chance to
talk face-to-face to senior investigating officers since May 24.
The lack of communication was described as 'staggering' by sources close to the
investigation in the UK
yesterday.
One said that talking regularly to parents of a missing child should play a
major part in an inquiry, for both emotional and operational reasons.
He added: "Getting round the table every now and then can often produce a
germ of information which could ultimately provide a new lead, or at least short-circuit
wasteful lines of inquiry.
"At the very least, it would keep them informed of the progress of the
investigation. If the Portuguese police are not doing that, they are missing a
trick."
Portugal's
'secrecy of justice' laws prevent officers from talking publicly about an
active investigation, one of the major frustrations for the McCanns and the
media.
At the couple's last meeting with police, they were understood to be impressed
with the youngest of the three senior investigating officers.
Luis Neves, 41-year-old national director of the
DCCB, the Portuguese equivalent of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, appeared
to have a good grasp of the case and gave a detailed progress report.
But since then another scheduled meeting was cancelled, and there has been none
since. |
