Madeleine McCann’s family have shared a number of intimate photos of their missing daughter on her 20th birthday.
Earlier this month, Gerry and Kate McCann attended a vigil with loved ones to mark the 16th anniversary since Maddie disappeared in Portugal.
The then three-year-old disappeared from her mum and dad’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal in May 2007.
Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leics, have continued to hope she is still alive and will one day be reunited with them.
The couple will mark Madeleine’s birthday at a small private family gathering today.
In a Facebook post on the official Find Madeleine Campaign page, they wrote: “Happy birthday Madeleine. Still missing. Still very much missed. Still looking.
“For as long as it takes....”
The heartbreaking message was accompanied by a short video appealing for the public’s help in finding Maddie and sharing a number of images of her.
One sweet image showed a younger Maddie dressed in pink, grinning from ear-to-ear as she rode a bike.
Another showed her on the back of a Shetland pony, beside mum Kate, and in a third image, the then-young girl was dressed up as a Disney princess.
Her mum and dad were pictured throughout the slideshow video as well.
At the vigil held earlier this month, the family gathered in their village, as they do every year, in what they described as a “special event and lovely to sense the hope and warmth of those who were there.”
Parents Gerry and Kate didn’t speak, but a close friend, Dr Fiona Payne, lit a candle and read the poem 'Hope is the thing with feathers' by Emily Dickinson, and then hugged Kate.
Fiona is part of what became referred to as the "Tapas Seven", they were three couples and the mother of one of the mums who joined the McCanns in Portugal's Praia da Luz for a joint holiday.
They were Dr Fiona Payne, her mum Dianne Webster, Fiona's husband Dr David Payne, Jane Tanner, her husband Dr Russell O'Brien, Dr Matthew Oldfield, and his wife Rachael Oldfield.
Each of them willingly co-operated with the Portuguese and British police investigation and none were ever made 'arguido' - persons of interest - in the inquiries.
German paedophile Christian Brueckner, who was living in a farmhouse close to Praia da Luz in 2007, has been named as the prime suspect.
But the 45-year-old, who is serving a jail term in his home country for raping a pensioner in Praia da Luz, denies any involvement.
