It has been 17 years since the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a British girl who vanished while on holiday with her parents in Parai da Luz, Portugal.
Madeleine was just three-years-old when she disappeared on 3 May 2007 after her parents left her and her two younger siblings alone in their holiday apartment whilst they went out for dinner with friends.
Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine's parents, issued a statement on the official Find Madeleine website on Friday to mark the anniversary of their daughter's disappearance. It said: "It’s 17 years since Madeleine was taken from us. It’s hard to even say that number without shaking our heads in disbelief.
"Whilst we are fortunate in many ways and able to live a relatively normal and enjoyable life now, the ‘living in limbo’ is still very unsettling. And the absence still aches.”
The McCanns added: "Your support continues to encourage us and bolsters our strength to keep going. We know the love and hope for Madeleine and the will to find her, even after so many years, remains, and we are truly thankful for that.
“Thank you again for remembering Madeleine and all missing children."
The couple's message echoed a similarly heartbreaking statement they shared on social media. It read: "Whilst we are fortunate in many ways and able to live a relatively normal and enjoyable life now, the 'living in limbo' is still very unsettling. And the absence still aches."
According to GB News, Kate and Gerry were absent at a prayer vigil held for their daughter at a local parish church on Friday.
However, 22-year-old Julia Wendell, who gained prominence on social media in 2023 after she claimed to be Madeleine, reportedly travelled from Poland to attend the vigil in the hopes of speaking with the McCann family.
Julia publicly raised concerns over her identity after making a stream of videos claiming that she believed that she could be Madeleine McCann after hearing an unusual comment from her grandmother, and sharing the same recognisable eye fleck.
SEE: Madeleine McCann: where is Julia Wendell, the woman who claimed to be missing Brit, one year on?
She also claimed that there are no photos of her as a young child growing up.
Her family dismissed the claim, issuing a statement via a Polish Missing Persons charity, Zaginieni przed laty. Translated, the statement read: "For us as a family it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step niece. We have memories, we have pictures. Julia also has these photos, because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges."
A DNA test was granted to settle if Julia was related to the McCanns. Her representative Dr Fia Johansson told Radar Online that the DNA results showed that she is from Poland with Lithuanian and Romanian heritage and that she is the biological daughter of her mother. She is not Madeleine McCann.