HOPE ON MADDIE'S 18TH BIRTHDAY ‘WE STILL BELIEVE IN MIRACLES'

KATE AND GERRY MCCANN WON’T STOP SEARCHING FOR THEIR GIRL

- Megan Rowe

It’s a difficult milestone for Madeleine McCann’s family this week as their missing daughter turns 18, officially signalling her journey to adulthood.

Instead of honouring the occasion with a celebration full of love and laughter, parents Kate and Gerry will be in mourning on May 12, desperately clinging to the hope their darling Maddie will be found alive.

More than 14 years have now passed since the couple tucked Madeleine into bed for the last time in their hotel room in Portugal on May 3, 2007.

They dined with friends at a tapas restaurant just 55 metres away, checking in on sleeping Maddie and their toddler twins, before making the grim discovery their eldest daughter had vanished.