Police scour Portuguese resort for missing toddler Madeleine
Police with tracker dogs scoured a luxury Portuguese holiday resort as the anxious search for missing three-year-old Madeleine McCann entered its second day.
Streets and lanes through the beach-side complex were sealed off as members of the Portuguese National Republican Guard watched over the apartment where the English toddler went missing on Thursday night.
Last night, his voice cracking with emotion, Madeleine’s father Gerry, a doctor, issued a personal appeal to anyone holding his daughter captive to release her.
In an appeal to the public for help in tracing Madeleine, he also said: “Please, if you have Madeleine, let her come home to her mummy, daddy, brother and sister.”
Madeleine’s parents, from Leicestershire in England, returned to their rented holiday apartment on Thursday night after dining at a tapas restaurant just a short distance away to discover their daughter missing.
They had checked that the children were still sleeping a number of times during their meal and could see the door of their apartment from where they were eating.
Staff and guests joined the desperate search of the complex well into the early hours of yesterday morning while Portuguese border police, Spanish police and airports were also alerted.
Last night police with miner-style headlamps scoured the complex overlooking swimming pools and tennis courts as the search continued.
Speaking for the family, Madeleine’s father said: “We can’t describe the anguish and despair we are feeling as parents of our beautiful daughter Madeleine.
“We request that anyone with any information related to Madeleine’s disappearance – no matter how trivial – contact the Portuguese police and help us get her back safely.
“Please, if you have Madeleine, let her come home to her mummy, daddy, brother and sister. Everyone can understand how distressing the current situation is.
“We ask that our privacy is respected to allow us to continue assisting the police in their investigation.”
