Madeleine McCann’s parents say finding out truth is ‘essential’ 15 years on

Kate and Gerry McCann wrote they need closure on what happened to their daughter in Portugal

Madeleine McCann's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, say they need closure on what happened to their toddler in Portugal on May 3, 2007. PA

Madeleine McCann’s parents say it is “essential” they learn the truth of what happened to their daughter as the 15th anniversary of her disappearance approaches.

In a message on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page on Monday, Kate and Gerry McCann wrote that although “uncertainty creates weakness”, they need closure on what happened to the toddler at the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007.

The Metropolitan Police, which continues to treat Madeleine’s disappearance as a missing persons inquiry, said it is “committed” to finding the truth 15 years on.

The McCanns’ post read: “This year we mark 15 years since we last saw Madeleine.

“It feels no harder than any other but no easier either.

“It’s a very long time.

“Many people talk about the need for ‘closure’.

“It’s always felt a strange term.

“Regardless of outcome, Madeleine will always be our daughter and a truly horrific crime has been committed.

“These things will remain.

“It is true though that uncertainty creates weakness; knowledge and certainty give strength, and for this reason our need for answers, for the truth, is essential.”

The McCanns went on to thank the UK, Portuguese and German authorities as well as their supporters.

“It is a huge comfort to know that regardless of time passed, Madeleine is still in people’s hearts and minds,” they wrote.

Kate and Gerry McCann display a poster of their missing daughter Madeleine at a press conference in June 2007, a month after she disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal. All photos: Getty Images

An aerial view of the resort and surrounding area where Madeleine McCann went missing in Praia da Luz.

British tourists look down a well while searching for Madeleine McCann in wasteland in May 2007.

Everton fans hold a banner appealing for the safe return of Madeleine McCann before a Premier League match in May 2007. She was a supporter of the club.

Kate McCann sits on board a private jet owned by Sir Philip Green bound for Rome and an audience with Pope Benedict XVI, at Faro Airport, Portugal in May 2007.

A mother and her children show their support for the missing girl in Rothley, the McCanns' town, in May 2007.

An appeal is displayed on the scoreboard at the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in May 2007.

Kate and Gerry McCann hold an outfit, similar to the one Madeleine was wearing on the day she went missing, at a press conference in June 2007 in Berlin.

Pupils at Bankhead Primary School release yellow balloons for Madeleine McCann in June 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland. About 400 were released, each with a tag attached containing appeal information.

Kate McCann listens to her husband Gerry speak during a press conference in June 2007 in Madrid, Spain.

Gerry and Kate McCann leave a hotel on route to an interview with television crews in August 2007 in Praia da Luz.

Kate and Gerry McCann arrive back in the UK from Faro in September 2007. The McCanns had been made formal suspects in the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.

Kate and Gerry McCann speak in front of an age-progressed police image of their daughter during a news conference to mark the fifth anniversary of her disappearance, in May 2012 in London.

Luis Mota Carmo (L), head of the Policia Judiciaria in the Algarve, speaks to British Det Chief Insp Andy Redwood as scrubland in in Praia da Luz is searched, in June 2014.

Police search scrubland in June 2014 in Praia da Luz.

British detectives arrive at Faro Police Station in December 2014 in Portugal, to observe questionings by Portuguese police of 11 people as part of the investigation into the disappearance.

Robert Murat and his wife Michaela Walczuch leave Faro's Police Station after being interviewed as witnesses in December 2014 in Faro.

Kate and Gerry McCann are interviewed by the BBC in April 2017.

A police officer erects fencing around an allotment that belonged to Christian Brueckner, who was named as the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, in July 2020 in Hannover, Germany.

Police dig at the allotment in Hannover in July 2020.

In July 2013, Scotland Yard launched its own investigation, Operation Grange, into Madeleine’s disappearance

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell of the Metropolitan Police, who is leading the operation, said: “Fifteen years on from Madeleine’s disappearance in Praia Da Luz, our thoughts, as always, are with her family.

“Officers continue to investigate the case and our dedicated team are still working closely with law enforcement colleagues from the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria as well as the German Bundeskriminalamt.

“At this time, the case remains a missing person’s inquiry and all involved are committed to doing what we can to find answers.”

It comes after convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, 44, was declared an official suspect by Portuguese authorities last month, a development that was welcomed by the couple.

Prosecutors in the Algarve city of Faro released a statement that said a person had been named an “arguido” — a Portuguese legal designation which elevates a witness to the status of a named or formal suspect.

The statement did not name Mr Brueckner but said the person was made an “arguido” by German authorities at the request of Portugal’s public prosecution service.

Mr Brueckner, who was identified as a murder suspect by German prosecutors in June 2020, has reportedly denied any involvement in the case and has not been charged.