McCanns will not give up search
Written: 1st May, 2008
The parents of missing girl Madeleine McCann have made fresh appeals for information in the run up to the first anniversary of her disappearance.
Gerry McCann said they had always hoped they "would not get to this stage".
His wife said the key message was that Madeleine was still missing, she had been the victim of a "horrific crime" and the perpetrator was "out there".
They told the BBC they kept hope alive because Madeleine was "so important" to them that they would never give up.
"We need that key bit of information... then this could all be over," said Kate McCann.
Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, disappeared shortly before her fourth birthday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on 3 May last year. Her parents were eating with friends in a nearby tapas restaurant.
The McCanns still have arguido - or suspect - status in Portugal but deny any wrongdoing.
In an interview with the BBC's Huw Edwards the couple said they had researched abduction cases in the US, and found hope in stories of missing children being found.
Reeling off names of children recovered after long periods of abduction, Gerry McCann said the evidence suggested that the younger a child was when they were taken the lower the chance they had suffered serious harm.
As long as there was no evidence of harm being done to Madeleine, they would not give up, he said.
"And what a disservice it would be to Madeleine to assume otherwise, without any evidence," said Mrs McCann.
"She's still out there and we're asking for help to find her," added Gerry McCann.
Source BBC news