Madeleine McCann - EMOTIONAL MILESTONES

INSTEAD OF CELEBRATING HER 18TH BIRTHDAY, HER GRIEVING FAMILY ARE MARKING 14 YEARS WITHOUT THEIR PRECIOUS DAUGHTER

- Jennie Noonan

Madeleine McCann was one week away from celebrating her fourth birthday on May 12, 2007, when she went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal. The little girl had been left with her 2-year-old twin siblings Sean and Amelie in the unlocked rental while her parents dined with friends at a tapas restaurant just 40 metres away. After the children were checked on at 21.05pm, Madeleine’s mother Kate McCann reported her missing at 10pm – and she’s never been seen since.

“Every May is tough – a reminder of years passed, of years together lost, or stolen,” Kate and Gerry McCann, both 53, wrote in an emotional Facebook post ahead of marking 14 years without their oldest daughter. “This year it is particularly poignant as we should be celebrating Madeleine’s 18th birthday. Enough said.”