'Never give up': Madeleine McCann's sister speaks publicly for the first time since her disappearance 16 years ago
3 May 2023, 22:19 | Updated: 4 May 2023, 12:06
Amelie McCann has spoken for the first time about her missing sister Madeleine in a local prayer meeting, however, her brother was no where to be seen.
At a vigil marking the tragic anniversary, Amelie McCann, now 18, spoke about her missing sister Madeleine McCann for the first time and said: "It's nice that everyone is here together but it's a sad occasion."
The informal prayer meeting, with about 70 people, took place in the family's home village of Rothley in Leicestershire on Wednesday evening. Parents Kate and Gerry McCann took part, although Sean, Amelie's twin, did not.
Rob Gladstone, leading prayers at the event, told supporters: "We are here this evening to show our loving concern for Madeleine and for all young children who have been taken away from their families against their will.
"We are also here to encourage one another to keep up hope and pray for a renewal of strength even after this long time."
Amelie joined in with chants including "Never never give up", "leave no stone unturned", "don't forget about me" and "still missing, still missed".
It comes after their parents Mr and Ms McCann posted a moving message about their missing daughter.
Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal on the evening of May 3 2007.
Sixteen years on, the parents of Maddie, who would now be 19 years old, posted a message for her on the official Find Madeleine website.
They wrote: “Today marks the 16th anniversary of Madeleine’s abduction. “Still missing…….still very much missed. It is hard to find the words to convey how we feel.”
They also shared a poem titled The Contradiction by Clare Pollard which they said “resonates strongly” with them.
It contains the lines:
The absence contradicts itself:
the missing conjures what we miss.
You are not here, I’m not myself,
but still I talk to you like this.
Kate and Gerry added: “The police investigation continues, and we await a breakthrough. Thank you to everyone for your support- it really helps.”
Last month, a German court decided not to hear a sex offences case against Christian Bruckner, who also is a suspect in Maddie’s disappearance.
The court said in April that the region where the case is located is not the last place where Bruckner lived in Germany.
Prosecutors in the northern city of Braunschweig in October charged Bruckner in several separate cases involving sexual offences allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
He has not been charged in the McCann case, in which he is under investigation on suspicion of murder.
Bruckner spent many years in Portugal, including in the resort of Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine's disappearance there in 2007. He has denied any involvement in her disappearance.
The suspect is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for a rape he committed in Portugal in 2005.
In the German legal system, a court must decide after it receives an indictment from prosecutors whether to take a case to trial.
The Braunschweig state court said its supposed responsibility for the case being in the area had been based on his last residence before going abroad and then to prison.
But it said that is not valid, because the suspect produced evidence of a later residence in the neighbouring state of Saxony-Anhalt, where he was registered as the owner of a property that he kept after going abroad.
The court said that, as a result of its decision, it has lifted an arrest warrant it issued for Bruckner in November.
It said in a statement that this has no influence on Bruckner completing his current sentence.
The court said that its decision can be appealed to a higher court in Braunschweig.
Prosecutors said later on Thursday that they will examine the reasons for the decision carefully and then are likely to appeal.
