Dear Friends and Supporters,
As I write, it is exactly three and a half years since our daughter Madeleine was so cruelly taken from us. Three and a half years without her seeing her brother, her sister, her Mummy, her Daddy or her best friends.
We are still searching for her. Our small team continues to review all available information, even though we STILL don’t have access to ALL of the information that the UK and Portuguese authorities have. Our team has interviewed hundreds of witnesses, received over 1000 calls, dealt with over 15,000 emails and maintained a computerised database of all information they have received. Despite the difficulties resulting from lack of official assistance, they ‘follow up’ all new leads to try and get fresh information into the investigation.
It is incredible to think that for the last two years and three months NO police force has proactively been doing anything to help us find Madeleine. Crucially, there has been NO formal review of the material held by the police authorities - which is routine practice in most countries, and especially when a key piece of the ‘jigsaw’ may have been overlooked.
We have tried in vain to get the authorities to play their part but our requests have seemingly fallen on deaf ears. It is simply not acceptable that they have, to all intents and purposes, given up on Madeleine. We need the authorities to do more.
However we know we are not alone. We have the tremendous support of family, friends and of course you the public. A lot of this support comes in the form of people saying to us ‘if there’s anything we can do, just let us know or ‘I’d like to help but I don’t know how’. To these people, and indeed yourself, my plea is simple:
We need your support to continue to lobby the British and Portuguese Governments to undertake a joint or independent review of Madeleine’s case.
How can you do this?
Simply visit: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/madeleinemccann_case_review/ and sign the petition to call on the UK and Portuguese authorities to conduct an independent and transparent review of all information in relation to the disappearance of Madeleine. And in turn, please spread the word and encourage as many others to do the same. Together we can, and will pull all of the loose ends of Madeleine’s case together and find her.
Thank you.
Looking for our daughter is not without significant cost.
Another way you can show your support is by continuing to help us fund the search for Madeleine.
To carry on searching for Madeleine and to ensure that the process has continued in a meaningful and proactive way, we have been able to utilise the generous donations paid in to Madeleine’s Fund by the general public, libel damages paid to ourselves and our friends and money raised through a variety of fund-raising efforts. The fund has allowed;
• Our investigation team of ex-police officers to operate and conduct enquiries in the UK, Portugal and further afield.
• A Portuguese assistant/translator.
• A 24 hour telephone line with translators to receive information from the public
• Media liaison in Portugal and the UK to ensure that we convey the simple factual messages: there is absolutely no evidence that Madeleine has been physically harmed; we must keep looking for her and those who took her.
• Awareness campaigns in Portugal, Spain and further afield.
• Website hosting and development and social network site campaigns to raise awareness through the internet
• A part-time campaign coordinator
As I write this letter, if Madeleine’s Fund remains as it is, with the current rate of expenditure, it will run out in Spring 2011. This would essentially mean that any kind of proactive search for Madeleine would cease. So again we need your help. If you can, please consider donating to Madeleine’s fund at www.findmadeleine.com
• £1 pays for the multi-lingual call centre availability for 1 hour
• £2 per month pays for 12 travel packs that are distributed to holidaymakers going all over the world
• £10 pays for 1000 posters that are translated and distributed across the world.
• £25 pays for the access to a 24 hour multi-lingual telephone service for 1 day
• £50 pays for the running costs of investigation office (and staff) for 2 hours
• £420 pays for 10,000 multi-lingual prayer cards for Madeleine, with photograph and contact details
Someone knows what has happened to Madeleine. We simply need to reach that person. We need to obtain that key piece of information, that ‘missing piece of the jigsaw’. One call may be all we need to find Madeleine and who took her.
Our little girl is now seven years old; innocent, vulnerable and waiting to be found. Please, please sign the petition and help us to find her.
Gerry McCann
