TOMORROW is the fourth anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann ' and still her parents are craving that elusive breakthrough which they hope will lead to the safe return of their daughter.

As we report today, a special Mass will be said in Liverpool tomorrow evening and Liverpool-born Kate's book, Madeleine, will be published on May 12 ' Madeleine's eighth birthday.

The Mass will reflect the ongoing support given to Kate's family ' including her parents, Susan and Brian Healy, who live in Allerton ' by the people of this city, while it is hoped that the book will lead to someone with vital information coming forward.

In a sense, nothing has changed from the night Madeleine went missing ' there is still incredible sadness, but there is also hope.

It is this hope which continues to drive the search. And it is this hope which provides the response to those who, after four years, ask why Madeleine's parents continue looking.

As Kate and Gerry McCann say on their website: 'There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Madeleine has been harmed. Madeleine is still missing and someone needs to be looking for her. She is very young and vulnerable and needs our help.'

Wouldn't every parent in their position be doing and saying exactly the same thing'

It is a story which, with the passing of time, has inevitably attracted fewer and fewer headlines, but, with tomorrow's anniversary and next week's publication of Kate McCann's book, the world's media will again be focusing on the family's plight.

We can only hope this renewed emphasis can help bring about what we would all dearly love to see ' a happy ending to a family's harrowing and heartbreaking ordeal.