This month marks 18 years since three-year-old Madeleine McCann was snatched from a Portuguese holiday apartment while her two-year-old twin siblings, Amelie and Sean, slept next to her.
Since then, the children’s parents, Gerry and Kate, have been unwavering in their determination to keep Maddie’s disappearance in the public eye, while doing all they can to ensure the twins’ lives remain as normal as possible.
Last week would have been Madeleine’s 22nd birthday. On the occasion, the family revealed how Sean and Amelie have thrived against the odds. They’re becoming young adults with bright futures ahead of them.
Twenty-year-old Amelie and Sean are now both at university. A family friend reveals how they are “carving out their own lives”.
Sean is studying chemical engineering, ad is also a champion freestyle swimmer. He has ambitions to represent Great Britain at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, training up to 20 hours a week.
He recently shared on a charity website, which had granted him a sports award, that he began swimming competitively at age eight.
“I have since gone on to win multiple county titles, as well as becoming regional and national champion in my age group,” wrote Sean.
“In order to have achieved this, I’ve had to remain extremely dedicated. I’ve been getting up at 4am multiple mornings each week to train since the age of 11.”
He also added that he aims to compete at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Studying in the north of England, Amelie remains sporty, after competing in cross-country running and triathlons at school.
In 2023, she spoke publicly for the first time at the annual vigil marking Maddie’s disappearance. The family host the event yearly at the Leicestershire village where they live.
She told people gathered, “It’s nice that everyone is here together, but it’s a sad occasion.”
At the same event, the twins’ great-uncle Brian Kennedy gave a glimpse into the siblings’ lives.
“Kate and Gerry feel pleased with their achievements and how they’re making their own way in life,” he said.
Residents in the close-knit community where the family has lived since 2006 are fiercely protective and supportive of the McCanns.
In the village square, there is a candle burning at the war memorial in Madeleine’s name. One local has a sticker on their car window with a link to the Find Madeleine campaign website. Meanwhile, another keeps a yellow ribbon on his car.
Formerly a GP, Kate now works with dementia sufferers and is a Missing People charity ambassador.
Gerry is a professor of cardiac imaging at the University of Leicester. His colleagues praised his “life-changing work”, and in March, it earned a prestigious $175,000 award to fund ongoing heart disease research.
Over the years, the couple has faced harmful conspiracy theories about Maddie’s disappearance in 2007.
Given “arguido” status, meaning a person who local police questioned, but is not a formal suspect, authorities finally cleared Kate and Gerry of involvement in their daughter’s vanishing in 2008.
Despite this, an ex-police officer who led the hunt for Madeleine in 2007 released a book alleging the child died by accident and that her parents covered it up. The McCanns were awarded a six-figure fee after beginning a libel action against him.
In 2020, German prosecutors said they had “concrete evidence” convicted German paedophile and rapist Christian Bruckner killed Maddie.
New killer evidence?
The currently incarcerated prime suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance is due in court again this week, accused of insulting a prison staffer.
Christian Brückner, now behind bars in Germany for rape, is set to be released in September. That is, unless a judge extends his jail term.
Last week, a new UK documentary reported how prosecutors face a race against time if they are to charge him ahead of this.
It also showed the disturbing evidence found by police when they raided an unused factory linked to Bruckner in 2016. Items included toys, children’s clothing and a hard drive that reportedly suggests Maddie is deceased.
Bruckner denies any involvement in Maddie’s disappearance, and authorities have not brought charges.
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