Nineteen years after Madeleine McCann vanished, Gerry and Kate McCann have shared a new statement, saying they feel “disappointed” in response to a recently released TV drama.
Madeleine’s disappearance became one of the most widely reported missing-person cases in modern history after the three-year-old went missing from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.
Christian Brueckner, a German national who previously served a seven-year prison sentence for unrelated sexual offences, remains the prime suspect. He is currently living in Braunschweig, Germany.
On the night Madeleine went missing, her parents had left Madeleine and her two younger siblings asleep in the apartment while they ate at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.
When Kate McCann returned to the apartment at around 22:00 to check on the children, Madeleine was not there.
UK investigators later said they believe she was taken shortly before Kate’s check.
Portuguese police later treated Kate and Gerry McCann as suspects for a period of 10 months, from September 2007 until July 2008.
A new docu-drama broadcast on Channel 5 on May 20 revisits that stage of the investigation, including scenes depicting Kate being questioned by Portuguese police.
In a statement addressing the programme, titled Under Suspicion: Kate McCann, the McCanns said productions like this “always have a negative impact on our family”.
They grieving family wrote: “Thank you to everyone who has offered support & kindness this month. May is never the easiest. We usually start to feel a bit ‘lighter’ at this stage of the month.
“We are disappointed however, knowing that a Channel 5 ‘docu-drama’ will air.”
They also said the family did not consent to the production and were not approached about it.
“We fail to see how it will help,” they concluded.
Earlier this month, May 3 marked 19 years since Madeleine disappeared. The McCanns issued another message at the time, saying they would continue searching for answers and would not stop trying to find out what happened.
“We remain very grateful for all our support from friends and family, people we know and those we don’t – and from the police and authorities for their continued determination and effort,” they wrote.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police investigation, known as Operation Grange, has reportedly been stepping up efforts aimed at having Brueckner face trial in the UK ahead of the case’s 20th anniversary.