With thanks to
roisin347 NEW MADDY CLUESDaily Mirror
By ROD CHAYTOR and PAUL BYRNE
26 December 2007
Hundreds call hotline after McCanns' TV appeal
AN incredible 347 potential new witnesses have rung a Madeleine McCann hotline in the wake of Kate and Gerry's emotional Christmas TV appeal.
And private detectives who are hunting the missing four-year-old say the calls have thrown up a number of "significant" new leads.
A friend of the McCanns said: "There has been a flood of calls which may contain crucial clues. Kate and Gerry are very encouraged."
The couple yesterday marked their first Christmas Day without Madeleine by taking toddler twins Sean and Amelie to church.
FULL STORY: PAGE 5
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Daily MirrorHundreds call hotline after Madeleine TV appealBy Rod Chaytor And Paul Byrne 26/12/2007
Madeleine McCann (PA)
Kate and Gerry McCann have been given a massive boost by significant new leads emerging from a Christmas appeal for information, a friend revealed yesterday.
The friend said: "There is always hope while there is new information to investigate. There has been a flood of calls following the release of the Christmas appeal.
"One of them could hold crucial new information. It shows that Kate and Gerry were quite right to record the Christmas message and release it to TV stations around the world. We are waiting to hear the significance of the new information. But you never know when the vital call which could lead to us tracing Madeleine will come in.
"Kate and Gerry are encouraged by the positive response."
Private detectives hired by the McCanns to find four-year-old Madeleine told the couple yesterday that they have had 347 calls to their hotline since the couple's TV appeal last week.
Investigators from the Barcelona-based Metodo 3 agency are sifting through the information - but say many of the new leads are "significant".
In the broadcast the couple pleaded for new information and begged Madeleine's abductor to allow her home safely.
It also featured touching home video footage of Madeleine opening her gifts last Christmas.
And Kate sent a heartbreaking message direct to Madeleine, saying: "Be brave, sweetheart."
Kate and Gerry yesterday marked their first Christmas without Madeleine by taking two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie to mass at St Stephen's Church in Skipton, North Yorks.
Earlier the McCanns, who are staying in Yorkshire with friends, did their best to make Christmas Day as normal as possible.
A friend said: "They were doing their best to put on a united display for the youngsters.
"But not having Madeleine by their side must have been tearing them apart."
Gerry, from Rothley, Leics, yesterday made another plea for Madeleine's captors to end the family's misery. He wrote on his internet diary: "Madeleine should not be spending Christmas away from her loving family.
"The person who took Madeleine has it in their power to end our suffering and will be able to appease their conscience that they have done the right thing, especially at this time of year."
Gerry also said he and Kate had been overwhelmed by the number of Christmas presents, cards, and messages of support they had received from the public.
He added: "Kate and I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time at this busy time of year to write to us and let us know Madeleine and our family are still in their thoughts and prayers. We still have at least one hundred cards to open!"
Locals in Praia da Luz, the Algarve resort where Madeleine vanished on May 3, held a Christmas Eve mass in her honour.
Father Haynes Hubbard told Our Lady of the Light church: "She is always in our thoughts, our hearts and our prayers."
