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A MASS for Madeleine McCann will be said in Liverpool to mark the fifth
anniversary of her disappearance during a family holiday in Portugal.
It will take place at 7.30pm tomorrow at Our Lady of the Annunciation,
Bishop Eton, in Woolton Road, Childwall.
The venue is the parish church of Liverpool-born Kate McCann’s parents
Brian and Susan Healy and also the church where Mrs McCann and her
husband Gerry got married.
Explaining a poignant aspect of this year’s service, Mrs Healy said: “It
will be the first time a Mass has been said for Madeleine on a Thursday
– the day of the week she was taken.”
Madeleine’s grandmother also paid tribute to her fellow Merseysiders for
the backing they have always given the family.
She said: “Their support has been tremendous and we want to thank them
for that.
“People show kindness every day. I would just ask people to keep on
praying for Madeleine.”
Madeleine will be nine on May 12 and an image was last week released to
show what she may look like as a nine-year-old.
The case’s profile was also raised when the detective leading the
Metropolitan police review said he believed it could still be solved –
and revealed there were 195 potential leads to be followed up.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said he believed Madeleine’s
disappearance was a stranger abduction and added his 28 detectives and
seven civilian support staff had dealt with 40,000 pieces of
information.
Mr and Mrs McCann are said to be “hugely encouraged” by Scotland Yard’s
ongoing review of the case, which has identified nearly 200 potential
leads.
But the Portuguese authorities have so far refused to reopen their
investigation into how the little girl vanished on the family holiday to
the Algarve on May 3, 2007.
The official Portuguese inquiry into Madeleine’s disappearance was
formally shelved in July 2008, although private detectives employed by
the McCanns continued the search.
Scotland Yard’s review of the case – called Operation Grange – was
launched last May after a request from home secretary Theresa May
supported by prime minister David Cameron. |
