The latest update in the 18-year Madeleine McCann investigation from German police is that officers have launched a fresh search near to the former home of prime suspect Christian Brueckner – the first search in more than two years.
Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007, and this latest search throws a fresh spotlight on the McCann family – parents Kate and Gerry, and twins Amelie and Sean – who marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance just last month – the same month it was reported that Sean, a champion freestyle swimmer, is being tipped to compete in the next Olympics.
The now-20-year-old and his twin sister Amelie are understood to be studying at separate universities in the north of England, having lived the majority of their lives in the shadow of their sister’s tragic disappearance. Both are “talented”, according to their great-uncle, while parents Gerry and Kate said recently that they were grateful to be able to “live a relatively normal and enjoyable life now”, despite the continued heartbreak over their daughter’s absence and facing speculation and suspicion themselves over the years.
The couple, both physicians and devout Catholics, still live in the same house they lived in when Maddie disappeared - a redbrick detached house in Rothley, Leicestershire - and Gerry still works as a physician specialising in cardiology.
From Kate’s frontline work during the pandemic to the twins’ sporting careers, here’s what we know.
Mother Kate McCann, 57: a former GP who wrote a moving memoir
Kate McCann’s 2011 memoir Madeleine probably gave the greatest insight into some of the realities of her life since her eldest daughter vanished: that she still buys Maddie birthday and Christmas presents; that it was difficult not to be overprotective towards twins Amelie and Sean after Maddie’s disappearance; that she worried about the impact the disappearance would have on her marriage, particularly intimacy with her husband.
"The first was my inability to permit myself any pleasure, whether it be reading a book or making love to my husband,” she writes. “The second stemmed from the revulsion stirred up by my fear that Madeleine had suffered the worst fate we could imagine: falling into the hands of a paedophile." She describes how these harrowing thoughts “tortured” her to such an extent that even the idea of sex became “repulsive” to her. "I worried about Gerry and me. I worried that if I didn't get our sex life on track our whole relationship would break down."
The book also describes how her strong Catholic faith was tested by Maddie’s disappearance, and how quit her job as a GP because she didn’t want her twins to be left alone with child carers and because she wanted to focus her attention on the search. She did, however, return to the NHS during the Covid pandemic in 2021, working on the frontline in local Leicester hospitals and saying she was pleased to be "doing her little bit to help" as the city battled with soaring hospital admissions.
Today Kate, now 57, works with sufferers of dementia, and is an ambassador for the charity Missing People. “We miss our complete family of five,” she said recently, in her ambassador role for the charity.
Father Gerry McCann, 57: a heart specialist still working at the University of Leicester
Gerry, 57, is a physician by trade, like his wife, and currently works as a research professor in experimental medicine and a professor of cardiac imaging. According to his bio on the University of Leicester website, he is a heart specialist with a subspecialist interest in MRI scanning, who conducts experimental research in people to better understand heart disease.
His CV includes various high-profile positions, including working as the Cardiovascular theme lead for NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, the immediate past-chair of the British Society of Cardiovascular MRI research group, and lead of the PhOSP-COVID cardiovascular working group and East Midlands Cardiovascular Clinical Research network.
He and his wife, who met as junior doctors in Glasgow in 1993 and married five years later, have both spoken of trying to live a normal and busy life to cope with the disappearance of their daughter, and their efforts to help their children do the same. “I am certainly more protective than I was, but you can’t mollycoddle them,” he has said of raising the twins. “They have to be independent. What happened to us is incredibly rare.”
Sister Amelie McCann, 20: a popular Durham University student who has competed in triathlons
“It’s nice that everyone is here together, but it’s a sad occasion.”
These were the words Amelie McCann – Madeleine’s younger sister, who was just two years old when she went missing – said when she spoke publicly about her sister’s disappearance for the first time two years ago. The then-18-year-old was speaking at a vigil to mark the 16th anniversary of her sibling going missing, with around 70 people gathered near their village of Rothley, Leicestershire, in May 2023. She was seen lighting a candle for her sister and other missing children, and joined others in reading mantras including “never, never give up”, “leave no stone unturned”, and “still missing, still missed”.
The now 20-year-old is currently studying at university in the north of England - Durham, according to her LinkedIn page - where she is reportedly popular, outgoing and sporty - having competed in cross country and triathlon events growing up. According to her great-uncle Brian Kennedy, her parents couldn't be prouder. “Kate and Gerry are pleased with their achievements, and the fact that they are making their own way in life,” he said recently.
Indeed, Amelie and her twin brother Sean have lived the vast majority of their lives in the shadow of their older sister’s tragic disappearance. They were just two years old when Madeleine went missing in 2007 - reports say Kate checked the children at 10pm to find Maddie had disappeared but the twins were still sleeping soundly in their cots.
She reportedly once told her mother: “Mummy's sad because Madeleine is not here. But Amelie is here, and Amelie and Sean will always be here.'" More recently, Kate said of the 20-year-old and her brother Sean: "They have their own friends and they keep busy and they're really sporty but their only wish is for their big sister to come home.”
Brother Sean McCann, 20: a competitive swimmer being tipped for the 2028 Olympics
Amelie’s twin brother Sean, also 20, has long been understood to be a champion freestyle swimmer - he began competing at the age of eight - but it was last month it was revealed he was being tipped to represent Scotland at next year's Commonwealth Games - and could even be selected to compete for Team GB at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
This wouldn’t be the first time Sean has competed in the spotlight. He represented Scotland at the 2023 Youth Commonwealth Games, taking part in the 400 and 1500m Freestyle finals, and is part of the country’s National Open Water Development Squad for open water swimming. "At the age of ten, I was selected to swim at City of Leicester, and I have since gone on to win multiple county titles, as well as becoming regional and national champion in my age group,” he recently wrote on a local website. “In order to have achieved this, I have had to remain extremely dedicated, getting up at 4am multiple mornings each week to train.”
He currently trains at the University of Loughborough, where he is studying chemical engineering. He is close with his family, reportedly once telling his mother “When you're old, me and Amelie will look for Madeleine”.
