Madeleine McCann's parents, Katy and Gerry McCann, have shared a statement to mark 16 years since their daughter went missing while the family was holidaying in Portugal.
Sharing a post on their official Facebook page, they wrote: "Today marks the 16th anniversary of Madeleine’s abduction. Still missing…… still very much missed. It is hard to find the words to convey how we feel."
They then included a poem by Clare Pollard which reads: "The absence contradicts itself: the missing conjures what we miss. You are not here, I’m not myself, but still I talk to you like this. You’re in the crowd, the news, the glimpse - I make you there when you’re not there. I trace your steps, I map your face, I say your name, see you in air.
"You’re all I know and so unknown. I cannot hold you, yet I do: please let me hold you in my head and where you are now, hold me too. How can you be so near and far? You are not here. But here you are."
© GettyThey added that the police investigation is still in progress, adding: "we await a breakthrough".
The public were quick to offer their support, with one writing: "A nightmare lasting 16 years. It’s hard to imagine anything worse than not knowing where your child is. Thoughts and prayers with the whole family." Another person added: "Your child, your family, forever in our thoughts, always in our hopes that your hearts can soon know the peace that finding Madeline will bring."
The statement comes weeks after a young Polish woman, Julia Wendell, made headlines by claiming to be the missing girl, appearing on Dr Phil claiming to be Maddie. However, a DNA test disproved her beliefs. Her representative at the time, Dr Fia Johansson, told Radar Online: "She is absolutely 100 percent from Poland. She is a small percentage of Lithuanian and Russian but the test results show she is Polish."
MORE: Madeleine McCann disappearance: a timeline of how events unfolded
MORE: Polish woman claiming to be Maddie McCann 'definitely trafficked to Poland'
She added that she had a "gut feeling" that the 21-year-old was not the real Maddie, but explained: "We learned a few things, one being that Julia’s mum is now believed to be her mum, so she is not Madeleine McCann. They’re not 100% but they believe that Julia’s mum is in fact her mum. They’re questioning her father’s side. They’re checking into that, that’s part of what they’re doing with the DNA.
© Photo: Getty Images"But Julia’s mum is in fact her mum is what they’re believing and she is not in fact Madeleine McCann… Julia had all the birthmarks as Madeleine McCann which I believe is God and the universe’s way of wanting us to get close to the man who sexually abused her, expose him, and his possible ties to the McCann case."
The McCanns didn't comment on Julia's claims, with their spokesperson releasing a statement reading: "Gerry and Kate are not issuing any statements or giving interviews unless requested by The Metropolitan Police."
Madeleine went missing back in 2007 aged three after she was taken from her family's apartment in Praia de Luz in Portugal. There have been extensive police investigations into her disappearance ever since.
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