03 January 2023 , 14:38
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The parents of Madeleine McCann vowed to “never forget” their daughter as they marked the start of another year without her.
Kate and Gerry McCann they will never “give up” searching for their daughter, who would now be 19. The couple have spent nearly 16 years searching for Madeleine and have never given up hope of finding her alive.
In a Facebook post, the pair said they face the new year with “continued determination and positivity”.
They also thanked their supporters and well-wishers for bringing an “extra touch of warmth and hope to our lives”.
The couple, both 54, wrote: “Christmas and other celebratory events will never be the same with our family incomplete.
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“But we continue to make the best of our situation whilst never forgetting or giving up.
“We head into the new year with continued determination and positivity.
“May 2023 be a good one for us all. With our best wishes and eternal thanks. Kate, Gerry & family.”
(X00802)The message comes after the couple did not release their usual and expected annual message to their daughter for the first time since she disappeared.
Madeleine vanished for a resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007 at the age of just three.
Her disappearance spaked a worldwide search for her that left no answers, little Madeleine appeared to have dispappread without a trace.
Kate and Gerry, from Rothley in Leicestershire, were dining at a tapas bar nearby when she vanished.
Twins Sean and Amelie, who were also in the flat at the time, celebrated this Christmas with their parents. Both are now 17-years-old.
Maddie would now be 19 (METROPOLITAN POLICE/AFP via Gett)
Maddie went missing in 2007 (PA)As the couple's search for answers continue, German police named convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner as a prime suspect for Madeleine's abduction and murder.
They continue to investigate the 45-year-old, who is serving a jail term for raping a pensioner in Praia da Luz.
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Recently, Brueckner was charged with five alleged sex attacks in Portugal, which he denies. He also denies any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance.
He has accused German authorities of a plot to frame him.
(Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)In prison letter he wrote: "There is no evidence at all that I committed any of these crimes. No DNA, nothing.
"The time that some of these crimes are supposed to have happened I was in prison. The prosecution are trying to trap me and hope that I will capitulate under the mental pressure."
Detectives are due to hold a top-level meeting in Wiesbaden this month to discuss latest developments in the Madeleine case.
Brueckner has accused German authorities of a plot to frame him (REX/Shutterstock)Recent reports indicate German police could be about to charge a suspect over Maddie's disappearance.
Brueckner, 45, could face charges at some time in the New Year. He was identified as the prime suspect in 2020 when it was revealed he was living in a campervan near the McCann family's holiday apartment at the time.
The Met Police decided in April last year that they would end their 11-year probe in to Madeleine's disappearance.
The Met’s Operation Grange inquiry was launched in 2011, but funding ran out in the autumn of 2021.