Kate McCann, Madeleine McCann’s Mother: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

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Getty Kate McCann, Madeleine McCann's mother

Kate McCann is the doctor mother of missing British child Madeleine McCann, whose case is being featured in the Netflix series The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, which streams on March 15, 2019.

Her husband’s name is Gerry McCann. Madeleine was only 3-years-old when she vanished from a Portugal resort while her parents ate dinner with friends. It is one of the most vexing missing person’s cases in the world. The family shared videos about their child and search on their YouTube channel.

Here’s what you need to know:


1. Kate McCann, the Mother of Three, Is a Physician

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GettyParents of missing girl Madeleine McCann, Kate (L) and Gerry McCann (R) pose with an artist’s impression of how their daughter might look now at the age of nine ahead of a press conference in central London on May 2, 2012 five years after Madeleine’s disappearance.

Kate and Gerry McCann who are both British doctors, created a website called Find Madeleine in the continued search for answers about their daughter’s disappearance. They have two other children named Amelie and Sean.

On the website, the parents describe Madeleine’s personality. “Madeleine was born in May 2003 – a long-awaited and very much longed for little girl. She lives in the village of Rothley in Leicester, with her mummy and daddy and little brother and sister, Sean and Amelie,” they wrote.

“Madeleine is a very happy little girl with an outgoing personality. She has always been a very popular little person, appealing to both children and adults alike with her funny and engaging chatter. She has many friends who obviously miss her dearly. Despite her young age, it often felt like Madeleine had been on this earth before.”

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Britons Kate McCann (L) and her husband Gerry McCann (C).

The parents described Madeleine’s interests as ones shared by most little girls. “Like most girls her age, she likes dolls and dresses (and anything pink and sparkly) but with a definite taste for action-adventure too! She has an incredible amount of energy and even as a little baby, didn’t seem to need much rest. She enjoys running and swimming and is an Everton fan like her mum and grandad” they wrote.

“Madeleine has always been a wonderfully loving and caring big sister to Sean and Amelie. It was certainly not the quietest house on the planet with lots of giggling, singing and the inevitable odd bit of mischief! For Sean and Amelie, there is without doubt, a very important person missing in their life. Madeleine is a warm, life-enriching little person and will never fail we’re sure, to bring joy into the life of anyone she may encounter.”


2. Kate & Her Husband Were Dining With Friends at a Portugal Resort When Madeleine Went Missing

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Gettyn this handout photo, released September 16, 2007 missing child Madeleine McCann smiles.

The lives of the McCann family members changed in an instant. It happened in May 2007. Gerry and Kate McCann took their three children with them on a family vacation to a beach town in Portugal called Praia da Luz.

They were there for a week, according to an article in The Atlantic, and were accompanied by a group of friends. In the evenings, the parents would put their children to sleep and join one another at a resort tapas restaurant.

According to the Atlantic, on the night Madeleine disappeared, the parents were at a restaurant located only 180 feet away with their friends, and they said they all took turns checking on the children about every 30 minutes.

Around 10 p.m., the article says, Kate McCann went to check on her children and noticed that Madeleine was missing. The only thing on her bed: “a fuzzy pink toy named Cuddle Cat.” The girl has not been seen since, and it’s unclear what happened to her.


3. Kate & Gerry McCann Were Labeled ‘Arguidos’ or Suspects But Later Cleared

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Gerry McCann (L) and his wife Kate (R).

The McCanns faced a barrage of media attention after their daughter went missing, some of it very negative. At one point during the case, they fell under suspicion of Portuguese police and even were given the label arguido: “suspect.” In 2008, though, the police removed the McCanns’ arguido status, the Independent reports.

Some online critics trolled the McCanns for leaving their children (briefly) unattended, but prosecutors found that the parents “could not have foreseen that, in the resort in which they had chosen to spend a brief holiday, they would be placing the lives of any of their children in danger,” reports The Sun.

The Independent reports that the McCanns went so far in 2007 as to hire forensic specialists to disprove speculation that they might have sedated their children. They used hair samples from Madeleine’s siblings.

They are the authors of a book about their daughter’s disappearance.

The Guardian reported that the Portuguese police file showed “that days before the McCanns were formally named as suspects, a British scientist had warned that tests on DNA recovered from the family’s hire car were inconclusive.” In addition, the news site, reports, Kate McCann “refused to answer 48 questions about her daughter, apparently fearing they were intended to implicate her in the girl’s disappearance.”

British authorities later reopened the case and launched a massive investigation, but they’ve never solved the riddle of Madeleine’s disappearance.


4. The McCanns Refused to Cooperate With the Netflix Series & Kate Says Madeleine Was Her ‘Little Mate’

On their website, Kate and Gerry McCann placed a statement explaining their views on the eight-part Netflix series. “We are aware that Netflix are planning to screen a documentary in March 2019 about Madeleine’s disappearance,” they wrote.

“The production company told us that they were making the documentary and asked us to participate. We did not see and still do not see how this programme will help the search for Madeleine and, particularly given there is an active police investigation, could potentially hinder it. Consequently, our views and preferences are not reflected in the programme.”

They concluded: “We will not be making any further statements or giving interviews regarding this programme.”

They’ve continued to tell their story, though, on their website and social media channels. In one video, Gerry described Madeleine by saying “Madeleine is absolutely amazing. She’s incredibly bright, funny, very energetic and incredibly loving.”

Kate chimed in: “Madeleine was my little mate really.”

“She looks like Kate, thank goodness for that,” Gerry said.

Kate revealed of her two other children: “We talk about Madeleine every day. When Madeleine comes back what they’ll give her, what they’ll play with…They still have a lot of hope.” Sometimes, when the family does activities together, Gerry reminds people that it’s “not our whole family.”

Shared Kate of Madeleine’s siblings: “My main worry is that they get older…that’s when the pain and the sadness will kick in…We’ve done everything in our power to get their big sister back for them.”

They’ve written about the difficulty of holidays on their website, including Christmas 2018. “We couldn’t let a Christmas go by without passing on a warm ‘thank you’ to all our supporters for the kind and continuing good wishes, especially at this very busy time of year,” they wrote.

“We miss Madeleine dearly. Christmas will never be the same without her, but we will continue to make the best of what we have. The investigation is ongoing and our hope remains. May 2019 be a peaceful and positive one for us all.”


5. The McCanns Were Awarded Damages After a Libel Suit

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GettyKate and Gerry McCann hold a news conference.

The McCanns sued the ex-police chief in Portugal Goncalo Amaral, after he wrote a book in which he claimed they faked Madeleine’s abduction. They stated the claim was false, and they won a libel judgment against him, BBC reported.

“It was entirely focused on the effect of the libels on our other children and the damage that was done to the search for Madeleine,” the spokesperson for Kate and Gerry McCann told BBC.

The network reported that a court ordered Amaral to stop publishing the book, and quoted Kate McCann as telling the court, “It was very painful to read and I also felt anxious and fearful because of the damage I felt it was doing here in Portugal.”