Madeleine McCann, the child who went missing in 2014, recently had her 11th birthday this week and her parents said they commemorated the day by celebrating it as usual.
Her father, Gerry, told the Mirror: “It is really hard. She won’t be here. It’s by far the toughest day of our year, every year. But we still have a birthday cake for her.”
The couple said that their two 9-year-old twins will also lay down gifts for her. They will also have cake and presents for her.
“It’s a long time. The room’s absolutely the same but she might want to change it a bit now she’s a bit older. You think, 11 – she’s due to start big school in September,” her mother, Kate, told the Express publication.
A friend of the family told the paper: “Madeleine’s birthday is a particularly tough day for Kate and Gerry. The fact that police are now out in Portugal and ready to conduct ground searches makes it even worse.”
Met Police Officers said this week that they were meeting to question a British convicted child rapist in his prison cell. The convict, 68-year-old Anthony Woodhouse, was talked to by police in an attempt to figure out what happened to Madeleine when she disappeared in 2007, according to the Evening Standard.
Woodhouse spent more than 10 years hiding in Portugal after he went on the run for rape.
The reports come a few days after police in Portugal said they would dig for evidence, Sky News reported.
Forensics officers will employ ground-penetrating radar equipment to aid the search for the missing girl.
Earlier this month, Kate McCann told Sky that she needs to know what happened to her daughter even if it is dire.
“Madeleine’s either alive or she isn’t and we can’t change that,” she said. “Obviously our hope is that she’s alive and being well looked after but regardless of the outcome, we need to know. We all need to know.”
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