Madeleine McCann: Missing for 7 Years

relegated from the Premier League. Now on BBC News, Kate and Gerry

McCann talk to Fiona Bruce, seven years after their daughter Madeleine

went missing in Praia da Luz. Let's talk about the new evidence

that Scotland Yard have come forward with. This string of assaults in the

Algarve, and particularly this revelation about an assault on a

10`year`old girl in Praia da Luz, where you are staying, just two

years before you were there. How encouraged are you by that kind of

information? I think the positive thing is that

information is still coming into the enquiry. As horrific, obviously, as

all these crimes are. We did know about at least half a dozen of them

right the very beginning, when Madeline was taken. And through our

own investigation and through the Met work, many more have been

uncovered. And none of these crimes have been solved.

One of the interesting things for me is that there are two aspects. First

of all, I'd like to thank all those families who have come forward

because we know that can be very traumatic, going back over something

horrible which happened to them while they were on holiday. The

second thing is that despite all the publicity, these cases are

potentially and we've got new evidence and witnesses coming for.

So, it is interesting in terms of what the public get asked for.

Because they were not abductions, some people had not come forward.

But potentially, obviously, these crimes could be linked. So, it is

interesting. And for me, it is that the Metropolitan Police's attitude

and how they have looked at the evidence and distilled it down and

come back and specifically asked firstly about burglaries and then

secondly about sexual assaults. And hundreds of people have come

forward. Do you think that the right

questions were not being asked before, but they are being asked

now? Well...

There might be an element of that, but I think that sometimes you need

to be really specific for the public. I think they need to know

what is being asked of them. And does it give you hope, if that

is the right word? Well, from my point of view, what is

very clear is that there are lots of lines of enquiry that need further

investigation. We have always tried to look forward. I don't want to

criticise too much what happened, but there was a deluge of

information that came in. And one of the things we campaigned for was to

get a review. The Metropolitan Police have now had time to properly

distil that and are now following an investigative line. So we are

encouraged. It is hard for us, because until we get something that

brings us very close to finding Madeleine, then we don't get too

excited. But what is very clear is that there are lots of lines of

enquiry and a lot more work needs to be done in Portugal. The Met can

only do so much with the information they have. And now, the British

families who have been affected will be interviewed. But a lot of

enquiries will have to take place in Portugal.

The Portuguese police have ruled out a joint investigation for now with

the British police. It is quite a bureaucratic process for the British

police to get their feet on the ground in Portugal, to be able to

ask questions. That must be frustrating.

It is. And I think that to us it makes sense that the two police

forces should work together. I mean, to have a more streamlined approach

to the investigation and basically to progress the investigation at a

faster pace. I'm not sure why the joint investigation team has been

knocked back. We know that many countries, including Portugal, have

gone into joint investigation teams before, whether it be drug

trafficking... For us, child abduction.

Do you think that it is because there is particular sensitivity

about this case? It's difficult. I mean, on the

positive side, the Portuguese investigation has reopened. And that

is a big step forward. But by not having a joint investigation team,

they are having to go through a very bureaucratic process, international

letters being sent, going through the Crown Prosecution Service, and

then there are delays... The concern that both we and the Metropolitan

Police have is that at the minute there is almost a parallel

investigation going on. That doesn't make sense. We're not quite sure why

there is resistance to the joint investigation team because clearly,

resources in Portugal is an issue. And this would be one mechanism by

which they could have additional funding. We can only see the

positives of going down that route. Do you think there is a sense, I am

speculating obviously, that the Portuguese police feel, this is one

case we do not want to revisit. There was so much publicity around

it and not favourable, certainly here, to the Portuguese police.

I think that we had those concerns, but actually if you speak to Andy

Redwood and his team, he's the senior investigating officer from

the Met, he says that the people he is working with in Portugal do want

to solve this. What difference do you think it will

make if British police can get to Praia da Luz and the area around,

and start asking questions themselves?

I think any enquiries would still have to be done with the Portuguese

police. That will not change. But, maybe where the Met's expertise lies

is in terms of taking a very complex crime like this, with huge amounts

of information, and from our point of view it is about bottoming the

line of enquiry as far as we possibly can. So you have that audit

trail to show. That is something that has not always been clear, why

something has been eliminated or not followed. As parents, we want

everything that can reasonably be done to be done.

As parents, I find the slowness of action in Portugal really hard to

take. I find it quite distressing because even though we are seven

years down the line, waiting weeks or months, particularly for letters

of request, to be processed and fed down the chain and then to come back

again and maybe have to go back again because it was not quite what

was asked... It is frustrating. I suppose I do struggle with that

fact. You know, please work together.

How do you deal with that? I think what has been a huge weight

off our shoulders is that the Metropolitan Police have been

driving this for the last two years. Whereas, before, essentially it was

the family without their co`operation and that was an

incredible burden. Our lives are much easier since the

Met came on board. And what we clearly have is that the

Met has been very good at keeping us updated. They get that our daughter

is missing. And it is hard. I think... You can always tell I am

trying to be positive. As long as things are moving...

Even though it must at times feel like you are moving at the speed of

rock erosion... When we look back, and say, look

where we were two years ago, and we are further forward.

When this information came out about the 10`year`old girl who was

assaulted, two years prior to your holiday in Praia da Luz, that must

have been a shock. And you must have thought, if we had known, would we

have gone there? I think these are decisions or

things that we cannot change, unfortunately. If we knew everything

we now know, whether we would have gone is another matter. Our

behaviour probably would have been different. But we cannot change

that, unfortunately. Would you go back? I remember going

to Praia da Luz along with so much of the media around the time

Madeleine was first taken. And it dominated the town. There were

pictures everywhere for a long time afterwards. And now there are no

pictures there. Would you ever go back yourselves, put up posters, or

some other way of trying to generate interest and get more evidence

again? I do go back. I haven't been since

last April. For personal reasons. Regularly?

I might once or twice a year, it has gone down to now.

To go to the church there? Yes. All that.

A lot of the local community are incredibly supportive. Portuguese

and others. And we have made good friends there.

It is difficult because we do not want to go back and generate

publicity because I know a lot of local people do not like that, or

resent that and whilst we have some really good friends in Praia da Luz,

I know some people would like it to go away. So when I go there, I go

quietly. I guess for you, it is a chance to

be close to her. It is. That is obviously the last

place we were with Madeleine and I will still walk those streets, I

guess and try to look for answers, or... So, it helps me. Most of the

time. I think that in response to the

direct bit about posters, that is something that after the first few

weeks I did think about. Will we come back here every year? But we

are very much leaving that to the police now. Madeleine's case has

obviously had lots of publicity. I am not sure of any posters

everywhere, given the intense media coverage there has been and

continues to be. Operation Grange with the

Metropolitan Police began two years ago, or so.

Three. Three years ago now. How long does

it go on, do you think? Is it indefinite?

That is difficult... I think there has to be progress.

That is the key. If the investigation is progressing. Then

that is what it will be judged on. Are we making progress? And clearly,

I think we are at a fairly critical juncture now. The focus of the first

two years has been review and now the focus is very much investigation

with an active investigation in the UK and in Portugal. The Metropolitan

Police will say they do not close unsolved cases.

But they wouldn't necessarily have a dozen officers working on one, as

they are now. No. Exactly, and there has been a

big team because of the complexity of the case and the volume of

information. But it will be judged on whether they are making progress

and whether there are additional lines of enquiry. That's the key

thing. We understand that. So you can understand that there

might come a moment when they might wind it down? If progress was not

being made? Sure, and i think that would be

justified in terms of use of resources but if there are lines of

enquiry to be followed, we want them followed. And it would be incredibly

hard for us and very hard for the team if it had to stop when there

are lines of enquiry that need to be carried out. What is also clear from

the recent appeal is that there are multiple British families who have

been affected in an area with potentially linked crimes. One thing

that strikes me, seeing you both sat here, is that you are familiar faces

in a way you would never have wanted to become. Although it covers nearly

seven years ago, I was told today that at the time, Kate, you're

trying to keep a lid on things as far as you could when you are out of

the public eye. Were you adviced to show no emotion of the time? Tell me

about that, because I find that extraordinary. That was in the early

days, really, particularly when we were doing appeals, for example to

the abductor. We were told by advisers at the CEOP that showing

emotion may affect the behaviour of the abductor. That is the Police

Child Exploitation Unit? Yes. You were everywhere in the Portuguese

and international press as well as the British press, and there was

endless speculation about you and your motives and every action was

scrutinised. That you kept it all in publicly was something that ended up

being criticised in some quarters but this was the advice given. I did

keep it all and there are clips taken of me managing to stay calm.

There are two separate bits of doing the media appeals that was the

advice given very early on, specifically in relation to an

appeal that Kate did and that is often harked back to those some

footage quite early on of Kate coming out the church and she is

virtually being supported out of it. Things were used out of context

there and as you know, when you're doing interviews and you're trying

to get your message across it is not you, you are specifically... It is

your one chance to help get your message out so whatever it takes

will do it. This is the seventh anniversary on Saturday. How will

you mark that? We usually have a small gathering in the village which

we have done for the last so many years and we have always said it is

actually Madeleine's birthday which follows soon after. That would've

been more difficult. She would have been 11, that is the more difficult

day? Yes. How do you mark that for a child who is not there? We always

remember her. We are with her close family and with the twins but it is

hard, it is really hard. She's not there and should be celebrating with

us. It is by far the toughest day of the year. I imagine it is this hard

every year. Oh yes, definitely. She will be 11 years old. She is due to

start secondary school in September. It's a long time. What is your best

hope of where Madeleine is now? You have always maintained she could be

alive. Seven years after someone goes missing, you can have a death

certificate. You have declined that. You do not want that. I think very

early on the advice from the National Centre for missing and

exploited children were saying that there are many reasons why children

get taken and they have recovered hundreds of children and unusual

circumstances. It has not been ruled out that Madeleine was taken by

somebody who wanted a child and she is being loved and cared for. That

is the best scenario but of course there are many others. Statistics

are important and people will always quote statistics and likelihood to

you but if you are Jaycee Lee Dugard or Natascha Kampusch ot Elizabeth

Smart or the three women that were found this time last year... They

were all women who were found, possibly dead? Those statistics then

mean nothing. Every time you share one of those cases, you must think

it could be you next? We're not blinkered and we know what the

statistics say and what the different scenarios are we also know

about all of these cases and for each one of those children, now

women, who have been found, statistics would've said they were

dead. The other thing is the younger the child, the more likely they are

taken to be kept and Madeleine was very young. She was three. Nearly

four. Kids are very adaptable, so if you really did think that he would

take a child, and potentially that could happen. But it is speculation

and I try not to think about it too much. The important thing is

following the leads. Keeping an active search. Had kept her bedroom

for her? Could she walk back in? Yes, she might want to change it now

she is a bit older but that is all the same although there is much more

in it because the public is helped in so many ways. We still get

birthday cards for Madeleine from strangers and she has a lot of gifts

waiting to be opened. The house is there waiting for her. And what

about the twins, Sean and Emily, who are nine now? How did they deal with

it and how do you deal with Madeleine's absence? They are great

kids. I have to say that first of all. They really are wonderful. I

know I'm a bit biased. I guess they have grown up with their big sister

not being there. She has talked about frequently and they know why

we are here today and we do try to keep them as informed as we can

because they will hear it. And they will hear it on the radio or

whatever and also for them it would be very confusing that was

completely blocked out of their life. At the end of the day, we are

family of five and they have an elder sister and they have handled

that incredibly well. I think as children do. And we have had good

advice about being open with them they can ask is any questions. They

know almost as much as we do. I think as time goes on the questions

may be getting more difficult. They have adapted incredibly well and

there is no obvious dramatic signs with them. Kate, you talk in your

book about suicidal thoughts. Certainly at the time. How do you

keep going, how do you deal with this? You sit there holding hands

and you are such familiar faces to the British public and, everyone

knows you are the parents of Madeleine McCann. How do you deal

with this? I think you do adapt and that is conscious. It is not a

decision, maybe it is survival instinct and we have a lot to live

for. This aside, we have a good life and we have lovely children and we

need to be there for all three of them and we have each other with her

family and friends. Now i look back and I think about those times when I

was so low and I think the burden and the grief and the pain, and this

is physical pain, was so great that I just wanted it to go away and now

I look back and I feel horrified that I ever felt like that and know

thatwe have to keep going for lots of different reasons. As you keep

going, we talked about your best hope for Madeleine and the police

are making enquiries. I wonder if you always wait for a call. Whatever

you are, do you always have your phone to just in case someone calls

rather than you'd just getting on with it and put it out of your mind?

It certainly was the case for the very long time that the phone was

constantly on. And it did feel like it could be it at any minute. At

some point there was a transition and does not feel as urgent as that.

You do not now feel you must always be informed? When we go away we

always say to the police where we are. Sometimes it is nice when you

can put your mobile phone aside. I think for your own health and

well`being and for your family looking after the kids it is

important that you are able to switch off. We've talked about it

quite a bit in the past that exercise and things that we do, I

suppose would be considered stress relievers. I think they got that

quite quickly that you stay well. And for us to stay together as a

family you do need to look after yourself as well. But did take quite

a while. Can I ask you one final thing? You have talked about the

young women that have been found that went missing as girls and

profound many years later. Sometimes they did have access to television

and newspapers and the Internet, they couldn't escape. It's a long

shot but if Madeleine is alive, if she could hear, what would you say

to her? We love you, Madeleine and we miss you every day as we did that

very first day and we waiting for you and will never give up and we

will do whatever we can to find you. Many places have a dry first day of

the long weekend. Things are changing, however. Rain pushing

across western Scotland and