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The parents of Madeleine McCann still hope to receive a ransom demand for the
return of their abducted daughter as they prepare to continue spreading their
appeal for her return across Europe.
Detectives believe that the person who took Madeleine from the bedroom of a
holiday apartment in the Algarve
32 days ago could have been deterred from demanding a ransom because of the
enormous publicity surrounding her disappearance.
Kate and Gerry McCann are clinging to the hope that a demand will be included
among the hundreds of letters they receive every day in Portugal and Britain.
The torment of spending the past four weeks searching for their daughter caught
up with Mrs McCann yesterday when she broke down in tears during an emotional
church service in Praia da Luz.
The locum GP cried after a young Portuguese girl kissed her when the
congregation at the Igreja Nossa
Senhora da Luz were asked
to exchange a sign of peace. Clutching Madeleine’s favourite toy Cuddle Cat and
a copy of her favourite book, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Mrs McCann struggled
to compose herself.
The couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, later issued a statement to mark a
calendar month since their four-year-old daughter was snatched from the bedroom
where she was sleeping with her two-year-old twin brother and sister, Sean and
Amelie.
“It is incredibly difficult not having Madeleine here,” they said. “As every
day, every week, becomes a month, we still believe she is out there and alive
and we remain positive and determined that we will find her soon with
everyone’s help. We do realise it is just a phone call that we need.”
Mr McCann, a consultant cardiologist, has said that he is prepared to sell the
family’s home in Rothley to pay for his daughter to be returned. He said: “If
we thought it would secure her safe return, we would sell our house. We would
do anything to get our daughter back.”
Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, of the Policia
Judiciaria, said that the worldwide media interest that started within hours of
Madeleine’s disappearance could have meant that a kidnapper has felt too
vulnerable to make a ransom demand.
“Whoever took the child could have the objective of ransom but did not ask for
it because they panicked because of the media attention in the case,” Mr Sousa
said. “But who would ask for money for the girl when her image is running
around the world? A kidnapper could have the child well hidden and could be
close by.”
Portuguese and British police are also monitoring new discoveries of paedophile
movies and websites, but admit it is unlikely that Madeleine will feature
because of her fame.
Mr and Mrs McCann, both 38, are determined to keep their daughter’s abduction
in the public eye in the hope that someone might hold the key to her
whereabouts.
They will travel to Berlin and Amsterdam this week and will visit Morocco after reports that a girl resembling
Madeleine had been seen in Marrakesh.
J. K. Rowling is considering putting bookmarks bearing Madeleine’s face in
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is due out on July 21.
British telecommunications experts have been in Praia da
Luz attempting to locate the position of mobile telephones in the area at the
time Madeleine disappeared.
It was also claimed yesterday that the Government Communications Headquarters
was monitoring telephone calls for intelligence on Madeleine’s whereabouts.
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