Six months ago, Madeleine McCann was a name that meant something to only a small group of people; her friends and family in Glasgow, Liverpool and Leicester. Now, the four-year-old's name is synonymous with every parent's deepest fear.

Her image stares out from faded posters displayed everywhere from rural shops to international airports. Everyone has a theory on what happened to the little blonde girl one fateful night in Portugal. Her disappearance propelled her family into the public arena and evoked various outpourings of emotion from people who had never met her. Her story has received unprecedented global media coverage yet, half a year later, police seem no closer to discovering the truth.

On May 3, the McCanns were indistinguishable from any other family having fun at the pool of the Ocean Club, a resort in Praia da Luz in the south-west Algarve. Gerry McCann, a consultant cardiologist at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital, and his wife Kate, a GP, had chosen the resort because of its child-friendly set-up. The couple, who live in Rothley, Leicestershire, were there with their eldest daughter Madeleine and twins Amelie and Sean. Gerry, a graduate of Glasgow University, met Kate, who studied at Dundee, at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow where he was training as a cardiologist and she was in anaesthetics. Most of Gerry McCann's family still live in Glasgow, including Madeleine's grandmother, who lives in Pollokshaws.

On the night of May 3, the couple went to a tapas restaurant close to their apartment, where they dined with friends while making periodic visits to check on their three children. They are reported as returning to the apartment at 9.45pm to find the shutter raised, the window showing signs of having been jemmied open and Madeleine gone. She was reported missing at 10pm. Almost immediately, the alarm was raised and around 60 holidaymakers, expats and staff joined in a hunt in and around Praia da Luz.

As the hours passed, the hope that Madeleine might just have wondered off disappeared. Early on, there were mutterings of disapproval at the way the investigation was being handled. Days after the abduction, Portuguese newspapers claimed that the frontiers service had been alerted of Madeleine's disappearance only 12 hours after police first knew about the case. One newspaper reported that the main border crossing from the Portuguese Algarve to Spain had no special controls in place until almost 48 hours after Madeleine had been reported missing.

Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, police spokesman for the investigation, said more than 350 suspicious incidents had been investigated and some 500 apartments inspected, as well as fields across 15 kilometres, and that hundreds of people - both Portuguese and foreign - had been contacted with more than 100 formally interviewed. However, a week after the disappearance, intense physical searches were wound down and police admitted they could give "no firm assurance" that Madeleine was still alive.


Back in the family's home village of Rothley, a silent vigil was held at which people lit candles or tied ribbons to railings at the War Memorial on the village green. Portuguese soccer internationals Cristiano Ronaldo, of Manchester United, and Chelsea's Paulo Ferreira both made public appeals for Madeleine's safe return. Stephen Winyard, owner of Stobo Castle, offered a £1m reward for information leading to Maddie's return, while her fourth birthday on May 12 was marked by a television appearance by David Beckham.

In what initially seemed like a breakthrough, Robert Murat was named by sources as an arguido, or suspect, for the first time. Murat, an estate agent with dual British and Portuguese nationality, lives with his mother, 160 yards from where Madeleine was snatched.

At the end of May, the description of a dark-haired man was released by Portuguese police and the McCanns gave their first interview describing how, in the first few days after their daughter was taken, they had blamed themselves. A few days later, the couple meet the Pope in Rome before touring Europe to keep Madeleine's image in the public eye. In Berlin they faced a hostile German media and were questioned on their involvement in Madeleine's disappearance.

While the McCanns seemed to be getting their message across, the story also attracted hoaxers and fraudsters. One call was received from a man on an unregistered pay-as-you-go phone in Argentina claiming to know the whereabouts of their daughter, but led to nothing, while an anonymous letter and map sent to an Amsterdam-based newspaper claimed Madeleine was buried in scrubland close to the holiday resort. Some 50 officers and police sniffer dogs were sent to search the area but found nothing.

An Italian man and a Portuguese woman were subsequently held on suspicion of trying to extort money from the McCanns, saying they had information on the whereabouts of their daughter. A man in Eindhoven, Holland, was also arrested for attempting to defraud the McCanns by demanding £1.35m in exchange for information on their daughter.

The first signs of a backlash against the McCanns appeared in mid-June. Chief Inspector Sousa said that the fact that so many people had crowded into the room from which Madeleine was taken was making it difficult for the forensic teams to make sense of DNA samples.

At the same time, thousands of yellow ribbons tied to trees and railings in the McCanns' home village were taken down amid concerns they were attracting "grief tourists". Villagers said that Rothley's main square had become a morbid visitor attraction after it was made the focal point for tributes.

Hopes of finding Maddie were once again raised at the beginning of August when a customer at a restaurant in the Flemish town of Tongeren, not far from the Dutch border, said she was "100% sure" she had seen the youngster. The glass from which the child was drinking was removed for DNA testing. It proved to be a false lead.

Later in August, it was revealed that sniffer dogs had found traces of blood in the McCanns' holiday apartment. Portuguese papers reported that detectives now suspected Maddie died in the apartment, although the McCanns insisted their daughter was still alive. Samples of the blood were sent to UK forensic labs for testing.


The McCanns' previously masterful handling of the media seemed to be souring and, in the midst of a growing backlash fuelled by the Portuguese media, they released a statement saying they would not be bullied into leaving Portugal. Gerry walked out of an interview with Spanish television when he was asked about being the last person to see his daughter before her disappearance.

On September 7, both Gerry and Kate were re-interviewed at length by Portuguese police and Kate was named as an official suspect. Gerry was also named an arguido hours later. Following the return of DNA tests carried out in Britain, the police appeared to be working on the theory that Madeleine was accidentally killed by her mother. One of the DNA samples was from the Algarve apartment from where the four-year-old vanished; the other from a hire car used by the McCanns 25 days after her disappearance.

Amid the increasingly hostile press, the McCanns returned to Britain for the first time since going to Portugal. In a statement they said they wanted life to return to normal for their other two children. Their local social services department met with police to discuss the care of the other two children, piling yet more anguish on the family.

While many commentators were beginning to turn against the couple, they still commanded strong support in many quarters. Multi-millionaire Sir Richard Branson donated £100,000 to their legal costs. The following week, Scottish double-glazing millionaire Brian Kennedy was revealed as the hitherto anonymous benefactor who footed legal bills after the McCanns were named formal suspects.

Despite being named as suspects, the McCanns were keen to maintain the momentum of the search for their daughter and a possible sighting in Morocco had the watching world on tenterhooks. Hopes were dashed, however, less than 24 hours later when the girl was identified as five-year-old Bushra Binhisa, the daughter of a farmer who comes from a village in the Rif mountains in northern Morocco.

If support for the McCanns was wobbling in some quarters, so was support for the tactics of the Portuguese police. Goncalo Amaral, the detective in charge of the inquiry, was removed from the case after he accused her parents of manipulating British police. He was replaced a week later by Paulo Rebelo, a senior criminal investigation co-ordinator at the national police headquarters in Lisbon. Meanwhile, the tussles with the Portuguese media continued; as the McCanns considered whether to bring legal action over speculation in Portuguese papers that they had sedated their children, Gerry had to issue a statement confirming that he was indeed the biological father of Madeleine contrary to a report published in the Portuguese newspaper 24 Horas.

It was last Thursday that the McCann family took another step back towards a normal life - Gerry returned part-time to his job after a six month period of unpaid leave. He did so as news came to light of a potentially credible sighting of Madeleine in Morocco. It was revealed that detectives working for the McCanns have spoken to a woman who lives in Spain who says she saw Madeleine being bundled into a taxi in a town on the Moroccan coast.

There has been more difficult news for the family, too. A new report claims that DNA results sent to the Portuguese police by the Birmingham-based Forensic Science Service included new evidence of the presence of Madeleine's body in a hire car rented by the couple several weeks after her disappearance.

But this weekend will be a time of remembrance, when the family attend a special ecumenical church service tomorrow to mark the six- month anniversary of their daughter's disappearance. It has been six months of gossip and doubt, anger and suspicion, but always of some hope.


The timeline


Thursday May 3 Madeleine McCann disappears from her holiday apartment as her parents dine with friends.

Friday May 4 Sniffer dogs are brought in, the Spanish and border police and airports are notified and volunteer teams comb the holiday resort.

Friday May 11 Celebrities including David Beckham join appeal for help.

Saturday May 12 Madeleine's fourth birthday. Her parents call for people to redouble their efforts to find her.

Monday May 14 Police launch a search at the home of Anglo-Portuguese man Robert Murat, 100 yards from where Madeleine was snatched.

Tuesday May 15 Police class Murat as an "arguido", or suspect.

Wednesday May 16 Video images of Madeleine are broadcast during the Uefa Cup Final in Glasgow.

Wednesday May 30 Kate and Gerry McCann meet the Pope.

Monday August 6 A Portuguese newspaper reports that British sniffer dogs have found traces of blood on a wall in the apartment where Madeleine went missing.

Saturday August 11 100 days since Madeleine disappeared. Portuguese police acknowledge for the first time that she could be dead.

Wednesday August 15 Tests on blood traces found in apartment continue.

Saturday August 25 Gerry signals a new scaled-down media campaign.

Friday August 31 McCanns are to launch a libel action against a Portuguese newspaper which said police believe they killed Madeleine.

Thursday September 6 A friend says Kate McCann fears she and her husband may be framed by police.

Friday September 7 Kate named as an official suspect; Gerry soon after. The next day the family of four return to Britain.

Tuesday September 18 Sir Richard Branson donates £100,000 to the McCanns' legal costs.

Tuesday September 25 Police investigate possible sighting of Madeleine in Morocco.

Wednesday October 2 The detective in charge is removed from the case.

Thursday October 11 Gerry issues a statement confirming he is Madeleine's biological father.

Thursday October 25 Artist's impression of the man Kate and Gerry believe abducted Madeleine is released.

Thursday November 1 Gerry returns to work as a consultant cardiologist.