Click LiverpoolMcCanns - someone is shielding Maddy abductorby Nick Webster.
Published Thu 23 Apr 2009 16:48, Last updated: 2009-04-23
Missing - Madeleine
An intensive publicity campaign aimed at renewing the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann is to be launched in the Praia da Luz area of Portugal where she vanished.
The parents of Madeleine McCann indirectly condemned Portuguese police for failing to carry out house to house inquiries in the area around the resort where she was abducted.
Heart specialist Gerry, and his wife Kate say the search for Maddy in Portugal is to be relaunched on the second anniversary of her disappearance because residents "have never been properly asked about information they may have to give".
And in issuing a new appeal for information they tell how they suspect someone in Portugal knows the identity of their daughter's kidnapper and is shielding them.
The plea came as Dr McCann, 40, and his Liverpool-born husband Kate, 41, set-off to the USA where they are to make an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show appealing for information on their daughter who would now be aged 5.
Making the heartfelt plea the couple say: "Experience shows that the crucial answers are in the immediate vicinity.
"Someone in the area could almost certainly has the vital information that could help Madeleine's return..."
Madeleine was last seen when she was left to bed down for the night in a holiday apartment on 3rd May 2007 while her parents dined at a nearby tapas bar.
Madeleine's disappearance from the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz. at the age of three made worldwide headlines and continues to provoke huge public sympathy and concern worldwide.
A fund to aid the hunt for Maddy raised more than #1.5m but despite extensive enquires and many alleged sightings she is still missing.
In their latest statement the McCanns, of live in Leicestershire, say: "It is almost two years since Madeleine McCann disappeared and there is good reason to believe that she is still alive. Madeleine's family and friends will never give up hope.
"At the time of Madeleine's disappearance the emphasis was placed more on international appeals and it has been recognised that the local Portuguese residents of Praia da Luz and the surrounding areas have never been properly asked about information they may have to give.
"The purpose of the current campaign is to do just that; ask the local Portuguese residents for information to help to find Madeleine.
"Experience shows that the crucial answers are in the immediate vicinity. Someone in the area could almost certainly has the vital information that could help Madeleine's return to her family, or a combination of people all coming forward with a single piece of information could piece together vital clues which could solve the disappearance.
"Experience also shows that people almost always confide in someone else. Someone in Praia da Luz may have been given information that should be passed on and now is the perfect opportunity to do just that. If anyone has information of any kind, do the right thing and pass it on so that Madeleine McCann can go home.
"The campaign is about finding Madeleine. Her family hope and believe that local residents can be a very real help. It goes without saying that they would forever be indebted to anyone who had that vital piece of information.
"Over the next couple of weeks in the Lagos and Luz areas residents will see posters, billboards and advertisements. Leaflets will be distributed in towns and local markets and there will also be a mailing sent to local homes appealing for help.
"It should be stressed that any information given will be treated with the utmost confidence. Information can be given anonymously by telephone, email, text and freepost."
