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McCann poster campaign launched McCanns discuss death possibility
(about 5 hours later)
The parents of Madeleine McCann have launched the first new appeal for sightings of their daughter since police in Portugal made them suspects. The grandmother of Madeleine McCann has said the family have discussed the possibility she may now be dead.
Susan Healey, from Allerton, Liverpool, admitted it was becoming harder to convince her daughter, Kate McCann, that they would find the four-year-old.
But Mrs Healey has vowed that they would never give up hope.
Her comments follow the launch of the first new poster appeal for sightings of Madeleine since Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry were made suspects.
The billboard and newspaper adverts, in Spanish and Portuguese, will be published in the coming weeks.The billboard and newspaper adverts, in Spanish and Portuguese, will be published in the coming weeks.
Susan Healy, Madeleine's grandmother, told the Liverpool Echo that the girl's mother, Kate, fears being "persecuted" for not looking maternal enough. Mrs Healey said: "It's getting more difficult for me to say to Kate 'we'll get her back'.
Madeleine vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on 3 May. "Kate and I talked about it last night, we talked about what was more awful and Kate said to me if Madeleine is already dead then we need to know.
She disappeared just days before her fourth birthday. A lot of people say to me that child is dead now, it's what people feel Susan Healey
"But we both agreed however painful the situation is at the moment we don't want to swap if for a situation in which we know Madeleine is dead."
The youngster, from Leicester, vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on 3 May, just days before her fourth birthday.
The new advertisements, which feature a logo of her distinctive eye, are expected to run until Christmas.The new advertisements, which feature a logo of her distinctive eye, are expected to run until Christmas.
'Terrible mistake' "A lot of people say to me that child is dead now, it's what people feel but I don't want to know I have to hope," added Madeleine's grandmother on Tuesday.
Madeleine's grandmother, from Allerton, Merseyside, acknowledged that her daughter and son-in-law, Gerry, made a "terrible mistake" in leaving their three children alone in the family's Portuguese holiday apartment.
However, she strongly defended her daughter, who along with Mr McCann has been formally named as a suspect in Madeleine's disappearance.
She told the newspaper: "She [Kate] does feel persecuted - not by the general public, who have been extremely supportive, but by some sections of the media, and I just feel it's important I let people know she is not this person who is in control all the time."
Corpse claim
And, stressing that her daughter had done nothing wrong, Mrs Healy described Mrs McCann as "one of the most maternal people I know" and said her life revolved around her children.
Mr Healy said she is clinging to the hope that the child would be found alive, although she admitted reports that Portuguese police are planning to search a large lake about 15 miles from where the young girl vanished were "scary".
Meanwhile, claims that new forensic tests prove a corpse was transported in their hire car have been firmly rebuffed.Meanwhile, claims that new forensic tests prove a corpse was transported in their hire car have been firmly rebuffed.
Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for the McCanns, said: "I would urge you to look at the source and view all claims without substantiation with scepticism." Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for the McCann's, said: "I would urge you to look at the source and view all claims without substantiation with scepticism."