Madeleine book launched as parents ask UK PM for independent case review

The Portugal News:

The parents of missing girl Madeleine McCann have appealed to British Prime Minister David Cameron to launch an independent review of the Portuguese investigation carried out after their daughter’s disappearance.

Kate and Gerry McCann made the request on Thursday this week, 12 May, the day that marked Madeleine’s eighth birthday. It was also the day that Mrs. McCann chose to launch her book, ‘Madeleine’, which recounts the family’s ordeal.

The McCanns made the appeal directly to the PM, in a letter which was addressed to him personally.

This move comes after similar efforts the past year directed at UK Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities Theresa May have failed to produce desirable results for the family of the missing girl.

In their letter to Mr. Cameron, which starts with the salutation, “Dear Prime Minister”, they went on to recognise the PM as a “devoted father and family man who knows the importance of children.”

In the written plea the couple further wrote: “Today we are asking you - and the British and Portuguese governments - to help find Madeleine and bring her back to her loving family.”

An “independent, transparent and comprehensive review of all information held in relation to Madeleine’s disappearance”, was called for, and the couple asked Mr. Cameron to “not give up” on their daughter.

Mrs. McCann told The Sun newspaper that she hoped Mr. Cameron “will take responsibility for one of his most vulnerable citizens.”

“Madeleine is not disposable. She should not be dismissed and brushed aside as ‘just one child from just one family’. She’s a British child, she’s still missing, and she matters”, she told the tabloid.

Meanwhile Kate McCann’s book, which she named after her missing daughter, will be on sale in Portugal from 23 May. The family is hoping that sales of the book will raise funds to continue the search for Madeleine as well as keep her – and the fact she is still missing – in the spotlight.

In the book, Mrs. McCann makes numerous deeply personal revelations about her emotional and psychological state after her daughter’s disappearance and during the years that have since followed.

Madeleine McCann disappeared from an apartment in the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz four years ago, on 3 May, while her parents dined at a nearby Tapas restaurant.

Meanwhile, response to the publication of Kate McCann’s book has been met with a subdued response in the Portuguese media, which has so far focussed on reporting from extracts published in The Sun and The Sunday Times.

It is widely expected that greater prominence will be given to Mrs. McCann’s book once it is published in Portuguese, as national media scrutinises her criticism of Portuguese police and the Lisbon law office which initially represented Kate and Gerry McCann when they were first declared arguidos or persons of interest.