Madeleine: Our daughter's disappearance and the continuing search for her

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She added: “Later, we were told by the British police that the ground-floor location, access to roads front and side, secluded entrance and partial tree cover made our apartment a prime target for burglars and criminals. Kate and Gerry McCann have always supported the theory that Maddie was snatched by a criminal working in the local area and it was claimed at the time that several other apartments in the holiday complex had been robbed in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. In 2014, the McCanns also spoke to the BBC’s Fiona Bruce and explained why they still had some optimism that Madeleine would be found one day. Police said the German authorities had taken the lead on this aspect of the case because the suspect was in custody in their country and an appeal on German television was broadcast last night at 7:15pm. It certainly hadn’t been in the early hours, because I’d been in the room with them, even closer than usual.”

Madeleine McCann: ‘Unexplained detail’ from morning of Madeleine McCann: ‘Unexplained detail’ from morning of

Gerry said: “Very early on we got advice from NCMEC, saying that there are a whole lot of reasons children get taken, that’s the first thing. Kate also wrote in her memoir about the other cases of abduction where the children were recovered many years later. Scotland Yard said they were trying to "prove or disprove" his involvement in the case and retained an "open mind". Gerry was quite keen on the Portugal idea, attracted by the sporting facilities, children’s clubs and activities on offer."It was difficult for the restaurant to accommodate the nine adults alone, so “after having a word with the receptionist at the pool and tapas area”, the group were pencilled in for a table for the rest of their week. The decision to publish this book has been very difficult, and taken with heavy hearts ... My reason for writing it is simple: to give an account of the truth ... Writing this memoir has entailed recording some very personal, intimate and emotional aspects of our lives. Sharing these with strangers does not come easily to me, but if I hadn't done so I would not have felt the book gave as full a picture as it is possible for me to give. As with every action we have taken over the last five years, it ultimately boils down to whether what we are doing could help us to find Madeleine. When the answer to that question is yes, or even possibly, our family can cope with anything ... Nothing is more important to us than finding our little girl.' But it was only after Madeleine vanished that Kate discovered what the person who took the booking wrote in the open reservation book at the restaurant’s entrance. And it was then that she realised it would have been clear to anyone working at the restaurant, or any curious member of the public, that the children would be unsupervised in their rooms. ‘We now bitterly regret it’ I couldn’t recall seeing it the night before and had no idea how it might have got there, but it looked like a tea stain.

Madeleine Kate McCann’s ‘horror’ at hotel staff note before Madeleine

Some people will know the man we're describing today, you may be aware of some of the things he's done.So at the time I just assumed it was a drink spillage that had escaped our attention, and that might well be all it was.