A poignant plea has been issued for trolls bullying Madeleine McCann's family online to 'be kinder', as new details emerge in the case nearly two decades after her disappearance.
Madeleine vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007, while her parents, Gerry and Kate, dined with friends nearby. Now 19 years on, the couple continue to face relentless online abuse from tormentors who criticise them for leaving their children alone that night.
Despite the abuse, the McCanns have remained defiant, insisting they will 'never give up' the search for Madeleine, who would now be 22. This week, they attended a prayer vigil in Leicestershire with their twin children, now aged 21, to mark the solemn anniversary.
Jane Moore, a journalist and columnist, has spoken out against the trolls. Writing in The Sun, she said: 'There can’t be a day goes by when they don’t think of their daughter, forever frozen in their minds at just three years old, and wonder where the hell she is... So a memo to the McCann trolls: Be kinder. They’re already in hell without you piling on the agony.'
Moore referenced other cases of missing children, including Ben Needham, who vanished in Greece in 1991, to highlight the ongoing pain of families in similar situations.
Meanwhile, police have been actively investigating the case for the past six months, aiming to charge Christian Brueckner in the UK. Brueckner, who has always denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, was released from prison in Germany last September. It is understood that UK authorities have formally requested evidence from German police, believing they can build a strong enough case for the Crown Prosecution Service to authorise charges before the 20th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance next year.
However, the German constitution prevents the extradition of its citizens to non-EU countries, meaning that unless Brueckner travels abroad, he cannot be sent to the UK for trial. He continues to deny any connection to the case.
Despite the vile abuse online, the McCann family issued a joint statement this week, saying: 'The search goes on to find her, to achieve some justice, to make the world that bit safer.'
