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We have recently managed to have a break visiting family. Sean and Amelie have had a brilliant time and it has been great for me to spend so much time with them. Although this has been a relaxing break, it has been incredibly difficult for Kate and me to have been on holiday without Madeleine- it is all too apparent what is missing.
We were very pleased to learn today that the written declaration calling for the introduction of an EU wide Amber alert system has been successful. More than half of the 786 Members of the European Parliament (MEP's) were required to sign the declaration for it to be adopted as a full resolution of the European Parliament and as of today 417 had signed. This is a small step in the right direction and a lot of work will be needed to get National Amber alert systems implemented. The idea already has the support of the European Commission and this additional political impetus should speed up the implementation process.

We would like to thank Edward McMillan-Scott and the other 4 sponsors of the declaration, all those MEP's who signed the declaration and all the members of the public who lobbied their MEP's.

There has been a lot of speculation in the press over the last 10 days that the

investigation in to Madeleine's disappearance has closed.

We have not heard anything officially other than we know the files are with the prosecutor and the period of secrecy has been extended to 14th August. Our independent investigation continues and we urge people going on holiday to remain vigilant and consider taking one of our posters with them- downloadable from the how to help section of the website.

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and this additional political impetus should speed up the implementation process.

We would like to thank Edward McMillan-Scott and the other 4 sponsors of the declaration, all those MEP's who signed the declaration and all the members of the public who lobbied their MEP's. Attachments No files

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 The visit was organised by one of the written declaration sponsors, Edward McMillan-Scott who is a Vice-President of the parliament.

It was hectic schedule but well worth effort. We met with the other sponsors, many MEP's who have signed the declaration and many who did not realise that there was a declaration on the introduction of an EU wide Amber alert. As we stated when we launched the declaration in Brussels last month- the alert is not our idea. It already has the support of the European commission and they and other groups such as Missing Children Europe, PACT and Missing People have done a huge amount of work previously. Our hope is that getting the declaration formally adopted by the parliament will speed up the implementation of alerts throughout the EU member staets and facilitate cross-border cooperation. Many of the MEP's who have not signed said they will and a lot of those who have already signed said they will lobby their National and fellow group MEP's to sign.
 

Today we heard that 283 have now signed the declaration compared to 211 on Monday. We are hopeful that the additional 110 signatures required will be achieved by the next sitting of parliament on the 7-10th July. It would be a great shame if the declaration failed because of a combination of ignorance and apathy.

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investigations Line +44 845 838 4699

Message from Gerry and Kate 

Gerry and Kate would like to thank all those who have taken the trouble to call or email with support and information. We have been taken aback by the level of your response. Thank you, it means so much to us. If you haven't had a response yet, please don't worry ? someone from the team will be in touch shortly.

If you gave a statement to anyone during the course of the investigation into Madeleine's abduction, we'd be really grateful if you could contact us so that we can follow up every last piece of information.
 

Our daughter Madeleine was abducted on 3rd May 2007 in Praia da Luz, Portugal, 9 days before her 4th birthday. She was taken from our holiday apartment where she was sleeping with her younger brother and sister whilst we were dining 50 yards away. Despite a massive investigation led by the Portuguese police and supported by the British police, we still do not know who has taken her, why she was taken or where she is. In addition, private investigators based in Spain are now following up any leads regarding Madeleine's disappearance. (Investigation page)

Since Madeleine's abduction, we have learned a lot about missing children and child exploitation. The scale of the problem is massive and worldwide. Although finding Madeleine will always remain our priority, we feel it is our duty to highlight these problems as well as areas where legislation can be improved, in order to make the world a little safer for all children. To achieve these aims we are working closely with the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Centre for Child Exploitation and Online Protection and other non-governmental agencies throughout Europe (Investigation page). The Find Madeleine Campaign launched a new YouTube channel for missing children in August 2007 called 'Don't You Forget About Me' in conjunction with ICMEC and Google.

The support we have had from around the world has been amazing. We have no doubt that without all the good wishes, prayers and efforts of so many people, our ordeal would have been so much harder. It has helped maintain our strength and hope, and this together with support for the campaign, has helped the search for our precious Madeleine. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their unconditional support and solidarity.

Madeleine is a beautiful little person. She was a very happy and much loved little girl. We believe there is a very good chance that Madeleine is still alive. She deserves the love and security of her family. She needs to be back home with her mummy and

daddy, brother and sister.

Please keep Madeleine in your thoughts and prayers. And please ? remain vigilant.

We will NEVER give up looking for Madeleine.

Thank you again for your ongoing support and kindness.

Madeleine's missing days counter has now been removed from Official site

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WORD DOC

First of all apologies for the long gap since my last blog. We are still very busy and the last 2 weeks all four of us have been laid low with a viral illness.

Our investigative team have been very busy working through all the information which has been coming in through the new hotline number and the e-mail addresses ' see investigation page. A lot of this information is undoubtedly relevant to the investigation and every piece of information will be followed up- a very time consuming process ' so please be patient with us! We are planning a facility to allow the upload of pictures of people who were in the Algarve leading up to Madeleine's abduction. In the interim pictures can be e-mailed to investigation@findmadeleine.com

The campaign for a Europe wide Amber alert continues. There is approximately one month left to get the majority of MEP's to sign the written declaration. Edward McMillan- Scott has told us that so far there are 211 signatures therefore we need another 182. Thank you to everyone who has written to MEP's. Some of the responses that have been sent display a complete lack of understanding in what we hope to achieve. For example some have said they will not sign because such a system is already in place with the 116 000 hotline number. Firstly this number for missing children is only operational in one out of 27 European countries (Greece) so far. Secondly the number does not mean an Amber alert will be issued for an abducted child as no such system exists- hence the written declaration. Thirdly we are looking for cross border cooperation between member states when a child is abducted. Hopefully with more lobbying, we can get the declaration accepted.

We are continually looking to improve the website. Over the next few weeks you should notice some changes. We are planning to have new messages on the home page from Kate and myself. The blog may change to a findmadeleine update, there will be new pages displaying the posters in full and further details of local fundraising events. With the holiday season approaching, we would be really grateful if people would once again download Madeleine posters from the website (available in many different languages in how to help/downloads section) and take them with them for distribution and display.

1 in 6 children are recovered after someone has recognised them from a poster!

Finally, we would like to say thank you to everyone for their continued help and kindness, the many letters, messages of support and prayers. It is reassuring and uplifting that Madeleine is in so many people's thoughts and prayers even at this stage.

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It has been another busy week. We have been inundated with mail that we are working through. Kate and I would like to thank everyone who has helped and supported us over the last twelve months. It is the support we have received from family, friends, and the overwhelming response of the general public that has sustained us. Special thanks to everyone who has contributed to Madeleine's Fund, which has allowed us to continue the independent investigation to find Madeleine.

Following our renewed appeal there has been a tremendous response to both the call line (+44 (0)845 838 4699) and the e-mail addresses (anonymous@findmadeleine.com and investigation@findmadeleine.com). Hundreds of calls and e-mails have been received and each and every bit of information will be assessed and followed up. We would encourage anyone who might have information to contact us in confidence. We would like to hear from everyone who was staying at the Ocean Club at the time of Madeleine's abduction or from anyone who may have experienced a similar incident in the Iberia peninsula.

Tomorrow is Madeleine's fifth birthday. It will be one of the hardest days of the last 375. We will be marking it privately and quietly. We will do everything to try and ensure Madeleine does not spend another birthday separated from her family.

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It is a year to the day since Madeleine was abducted. A heinous

 crime that had the potential to destroy the strongest of families. Without doubt it has been the longest year of our lives, yet it does not seem like a year since we last saw Madeleine. She is still a large part of Sean and Amelie's life and this gives some comfort to Kate and me.

The research we have done this year has encouraged us to believe that there is a very good chance Madeleine is alive. Ernie Allen, president of NCMEC for the last 25 years, has reiterated that and the fact there are a number of scenarios in which Madeleine could be alive and well. We just need to find her.

The documentary we made on an EU wide Amber alert and the last year was screened in the UK on Wednesday night, in Spain on Thursday and last night in Portugal. We have spent most of the last 3 days promoting our new hotline number +4 845 838 4699 (calls are charged at local rate) and our e-mail addresses for information: anonymous@findmadeleine.com and
investigation@findmadeleine.com .
We have always said we will leave no stone unturned in the search for Madeleine. To do that we need to know what has and has not been done- unfortunately we know very little about the investigation to date. This is why we are appealing to everyone who may have come forward previously to do so again. Every piece of information is important to us. We are also appealing to people who may not have come forward for whatever reason to do so. We are only interested in finding Madeleine and will guarantee confidentiality and anonymity if requested. We are also families asking with children to think if something similar may have happened to them. It is unlikely

 this is the first time that the abductor has struck.

Today we will be attending one of the many services to pray for Madeleine and other missing children. We would like to thank everyone, of all faiths, who has prayed for

Madeleine over the last year. The Helping to find Madeleine group have also organised a

'lighting the way home for Madeleine' event where, they will release lanterns in Rothley around the time she went missing. Others will light a candle and

we greatly appreciate the support and symbolic gestures.

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who benefits from such a leak?

One thing

for certain is that it does not help to find Madeleine. We would certainly welcome an independent inquiry as to where the leaking of such sensitive information, contrary to judicial secrecy laws, has come from

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Kate and Gerry presentation to EU parliament

Attachments

POWERPOINT

Date Released: 12/04/2008 23:06:00

Gerry and Kate presentation
to EU parliament

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 in NCMEC's

experience, the younger the child at the time of abduction the less likely that child will be seriously harmed. Such information makes us believe even more fervently, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that Madeleine can be found safe and well

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I think everyone must have heard the news today that Express Newspapers have published front page apologies to Kate and me and agreed damages of  ?550,000 which will be paid in to Madeleines Fund. It gives us no joy that we had to take such action- we would rather have not had to put up with such distasteful, grotesque and blatantly untruthful coverage. Nevertheless we hope todays events will act as a springboard in advancing the search for Madeleine. The money will be used to aid the investigation.
To read our full statement, please see the News and Press Releases in the News and Support section.

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search for Madeleine and her abductor(s).

The Fund will, therefore, continue to work to gather information to assist them in achieving their aim of bringing Madeleine home. We would, once again, urge any member of the public who still feels they may have useful information to come forward with it without delay

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Attachments

WORD DOC

Date Released: 19/03/2008 11:00:00

We are pleased that Express Newspapers have today admitted the utter falsity of the numerous grotesque and grossly defamatory allegations that their titles published about us on a sustained basis over many months.

The exceptional publication of these apologies, together with today's statement of full apology in open Court before Mr Justice Eady, was the only just and proper response by Express Newspapers following our complaint. We also wish to place on record our thanks to Adam Tudor, from Carter Ruck. Today's result simply could not have been achieved without him

Express Newspapers, rightly acknowledge that we are innocent of all allegations that we may have been involved in Madeleine's abduction and WE would like to reiterate that there is absolutely no evidence that Madeleine is dead or has been seriously harmed.

We embarked on this course of action reluctantly, indeed with a heavy heart, as we did not wish the pursuit of it to become a distraction from our sole aim ? finding Madeleine. Indeed, as long ago as last autumn our lawyers approached Express Newspapers and urged them to show greater restraint in their reporting ? requests which went utterly unheeded.

The distress all this has caused members of our wider family, at a time of great emotional turmoil for them, was also a major factor in our action. Their pain over the loss of Madeleine has been compounded by having to witness the irresponsible and libellous reporting that we have successfully challenged today.

As a part of our settlement, Express Newspapers have also agreed to donate ?550,000 to the Fund that was established to help find Madeleine. We feel it is entirely appropriate that the search for Madeleine will now benefit directly out of the wrongs committed against us as her parents.

We hope that the Portuguese authorities lift our arguido status in the very

near future so that everyone can focus on finding our beautiful little girl, Madeleine.?  

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