Rose Rouse - Missing

I ts Madeleine McCanns fourth birthday, 12 May 2007. A white card with the words MUMMY, DADDY, SEAN AND AMELIE WILL SEE YOU SOON is tied to a pink balloon and released into the pale blue sky in Leicestershire, not far from the village of Rothley where the McCann family live. Her great uncle, Brian Kennedy, is responsible for releasing that balloon and the 39 others, which fill the sky with their pinkness and their prayers of hope.

The awful truth is that Madeleine isnt actually with her mummy, daddy and twin siblings to celebrate this birthday because she was abducted nine days earlier.

The McCanns are a modern 30-something, middle-class couple with three children. Gerry McCann is a consultant cardiologist; Kate McCann is a GP. At home, they have a nanny because they both work. At the end of April 2007, they flew to the Algarve in Portugal with a group of friends and their children for a two-week holiday. They were all staying in apartments at the Mark Warner Ocean Club Resort at Praia da Luz. Everything was wonderful the kids had activity clubs, there was a beach nearby, the adults could mix playing with their children and having some time on their own until the unimaginable happened.

On Thursday, 3 May, the McCanns were eating dinner with their group of eight friends in the resorts tapas restaurant, which Gerry described as like having dinner in your garden. What he meant was that the restaurant was a stones throw away from their apartment. As usual, the children Madeleine and the two-year-old twins were asleep in one of the bedrooms and the McCanns were checking to see that they were fine every half an hour. Just as they had done most evenings. Just as their friends were all doing. They had decided not to use the resorts babysitting service because they didnt want strangers to be involved with caring for their children. They also left the patio doors open, which allowed easy access to the bedroom where the children were all sleeping. Viewed retrospectively, this may appear to be a strange decision to make, but the McCanns thought they were in a secure haven and they considered it less of a fire hazard to leave the doors open.

At 9.30pm, Gerry checked on their three children and found they were all sleeping peacefully. However, at 10pm, when Kate went to check, Madeleine had disappeared. She was no longer in her bed. Gerry and Kate were immediately plunged into a terrifying new universe; a dark, dark place that they had never in their worst nightmares imagined. Their gorgeous little girl who would become famous through the photograph released showing her blonde and smiling by the swimming pool, radiating happiness on the afternoon of 3 May was missing and they had no idea where she was. They knew straight away that she had been abducted rather than wandered off on her own.

Within ten minutes, the police were called. Within 24 hours, the entire village, tourists and locals alike, were searching for Madeleine. Sniffer dogs were brought in and the border police with Spain were notified. Yet accusations that the Portuguese police were not doing enough quickly began to appear in the press. The media arrived in Praia da Luz realising that here was a story that would touch the hearts of people everywhere. At this stage, however, not even the journalists foresaw how big Madeleines story would become. There was something primordial about a stolen child the story hit us at an emotional level that we cant rationalise away. It encapsulates all our very worst fears.

The McCanns fell into uncharted waters where shock, anguish, fear and guilt were all horribly present. Somehow they managed to function throughout the terrible time. Both parents talked about their terror and despair. The worst feeling was helplessness and being completely out of control of anything in terms of getting Madeleine back, Gerry explains. However, Gerry and Kate managed to garner some strength from somewhere.

Close relatives flew in to support them, including Madeleines godmothers and Kates parents, and they started to get thousands of messages of support from people people that they didnt know, but who cared passionately about their plight. People everywhere took the McCanns into their hearts and poured out feelings of love and empathy. This incredible support was to give the McCanns the strength to stay positive when it would have been so easy to sink into the mire of hopelessness. Of course, they knew that they had stay strong for the twins, plus they were practising Catholics so they drew hugely upon their faith for support too. The church nearby, Nossa Senhora da Luz, became a sanctuary for them and a place where the local community in Praia da Luz could show them love and support as well.

In those first few days, Gerry and Kate appeared on TV to make a brief but heartbreaking appeal to whoever had stolen Madeleine from them. Looking tired and emotionally drained, Kate sat by her husband as he said, We would like to say a few words to the person who is with our Madeleine or has been with her. Madeleine is a bright, sunny and caring little girl. She is so special. Please, please do not hurt her. Please do not scare her. Please let us know where to find her or put her in a place of safety and tell somebody about it. We beg you to let Madeleine come home. We need our Madeleine. Sean and Amelie need Madeleine and she needs us. Please give our little girl back.