Sixteen agonizing years have passed, yet Kate, Gerry McCann, and Madeleine Mccann’s Siblings Sean and Amelie cling to a glimmer of hope that their daughter/sibling Madeleine could still be out there, alive.
The disappearance of little “Maddie” McCann is one of the most heartbreaking and perplexing missing persons cases the world has ever witnessed.
The bubbly three-year-old vanished on May 3, 2007, from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal. She was there with her family, while her parents, Kate and Gerry, dined nearby with friends at a tapas restaurant just 55 meters away.
When Kate went to check on the children around 10 pm, she discovered Madeleine had vanished from her bed, while her two-year-old twin siblings, Sean and Amelie, lay sleeping peacefully in the same room.
Madeleine’s face remains recognizable around the globe, yet she has never been found, dead or alive. No real leads have materialized over the years. If she were still out there, Madeleine would now be a young woman of 20.
Authorities have recently been searching a reservoir located inland from where Madeleine disappeared, about 50 kilometers from the beach resort. The search was prompted by a request from German authorities and carried out with British officials on site. Slim as the odds may be, it’s a reminder that efforts to unravel this baffling case remain active.
- Madeleine disappeared in 2007 at age 3 from a holiday home in Portugal. She has never been found.
- Madeleine has a younger brother and sister, twins Sean and Amelie, who were 2 years old when she went missing. They are now around 18 years old.
- The twins were sleeping in the same room as Madeleine when she disappeared.
- Sean and Amelie have grown up with the tragedy of their missing sister. They remember Madeleine and still hope she will be found.
- Madeleine McCann’s Siblings celebrated their 13th birthday in 2017, which coincided with the 10-year anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.
- Madeleine McCann’s Siblings Sean and Amelie keep a low profile but are active in sports like swimming and triathlons.
- Amelie recently attended a memorial ceremony for Madeleine on the 16-year anniversary of her disappearance. She is now applying to university.
- Kate and Gerry McCann say they try to live normal lives for the sake of the twins, while still holding out hope that Madeleine could be alive. They continue to celebrate her birthdays and buy her Christmas gifts.
Madeleine McCann’s Siblings and Early Life
Madeleine McCann’s face is recognized globally, yet far less is publicly known about the siblings who were just toddlers when she disappeared.
Madeleine was 3 years old when she vanished in May 2007 from the family’s holiday apartment in Portugal. She was born in May 2003 in Leicester, England to parents Kate and Gerry McCann. Her parents met as young doctors in Glasgow in 1993 and married 5 years later. The McCanns are practicing Roman Catholics.
In February 2005, Kate gave birth to twins Sean and Amelie. On the May night, Madeleine went missing, 2-year-old Sean and Amelie were sleeping in the same room as their big sister while their parents dined nearby. When Kate went to check on the children around 10 pm, she found Madeleine gone from her bed while the twins lay undisturbed.
Now around 18, Sean and Amelie have grown up enduring the unspeakable loss of their elder sister who disappeared when they were still in diapers. They’ve had to cope with intense global interest surrounding their family’s tragedy.
Bittersweet Birthday for Madeleine McCann’s Siblings
In 2017, Sean and Amelie McCann marked their 13th birthday, a milestone made bittersweet as it coincided with the agonizing 10-year mark since their elder sister Madeleine’s unsolved disappearance.
Though the twins celebrated with friends and family, their deepest wish was for Madeleine to be found, a family friend confided to The Sun newspaper. “Their only wish is for their big sister to come home,” the friend poignantly revealed.
Kate and Gerry McCann hosted a joint party so the twins could commemorate officially becoming teenagers. But the gathering was filled with reminders of missing Madeleine, guests later said.
“There will be prayers to remember Madeleine as well wherever she is. Kate and Gerry want to give the twins a memorable occasion, they’re teenagers now and that’s a big deal. But the party will be marred with a tinge of sadness because Madeleine is not here to join in the fun.”
One partygoer told The Sun:
The 13th birthday celebration for Sean and Amelie McCann was a time filled with mixed emotions.
Where are Madeleine McCann’s Siblings Now?
There is little public information about the lives Sean and Amelie McCann, now both around 18, have built nearly two decades after their sister Madeleine’s disappearance.
The twins keep an exceedingly low profile, despite their parents’ very public awareness campaign involving constant media and police engagement in hopes of finding Madeleine.
According to The Sun, the siblings previously attended a local Catholic high school in their hometown, which kept an empty place for Madeleine.
Sean and Amelie have grown into aspiring young athletes, competing in swimming championships, triathlons, and cross-country racing.
In an interview with The Sun, Kate McCann revealed her twins have “grown up essentially without Madeleine but knowing their sister is missing and they want her back.”
Staying busy has become the family’s way of coping. Yet nothing can ever fill the painful void left by Madeleine’s ongoing absence, their mother said.
“They have their own friends and they keep busy and they’re really sporty but their only wish is for their big sister to come home. We miss our complete family of five,” Kate McCann told The Sun, anguish evident in her words.
“As a family 98 percent of the time we’re busy. I don’t know if that’s a conscious thing but it helps. The urge to look for Madeleine absolutely hasn’t changed at all,”
she added.
Kate also told The Sun in 2015:
“The twins are doing really well. They are up to date, they know everything, they know if we are meeting police. There is nothing kept from them. They’ve grown up essentially without Madeleine but knowing their sister is missing and they want her back.”
Madeleine McCann’s Siblings Sister Amelie Nears Adulthood
Amelie McCann has grown into a driven young athlete and scholar. In 2018, Madeleine McCann’s younger sister participated in an impressive nine athletic competitions and triathlons.
Now 18, Amelie poignantly honored her sister’s memory on the solemn 16-year mark since Madeleine’s disappearance. She lit a candle for Madeleine at a war memorial, as Kate and Gerry McCann looked on alongside well-wishers.
Quoted by local media, Amelie movingly remarked later that evening: “It’s nice that everyone is here together but it’s a sad occasion.”
The teenage Amelie was photographed publicly for the first time since childhood. Her maturity offers a glimpse of what missing sister Madeleine might look like today, nearly 20 years old.
At the war memorial, photos of Madeleine adorned the black railing as Amelie lit a candle for her, with a lantern of hope still glowing around the clock in her sister’s honor.
Kate and Gerry McCann cling to a faint glimmer of hope that Madeleine could somehow still be out there alive. As Amelie blossoms into adulthood, she too surely holds onto faith she will be reunited with her long-lost sibling one day.
Now applying to university herself, Amelie McCann continues to honor her sister’s memory while also moving forward with her own life.
Madeleine’s Brother Sean Excels as Young Athlete
Like his twin sister Amelie, 18-year-old Sean McCann has grown into an accomplished young athlete since his sister Madeleine’s disappearance years ago.
Sean has become an unbeaten champion in swimming, in addition to competing in cross-country events and triathlons around his hometown.
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Still only 18, Sean has already taken part in an impressive 14 championships, runs, and leagues in swimming and running. He continues to honor his missing sister’s memory while making strides forward in his own life.
Keeping Madeleine’s Memory Alive
Despite enduring unimaginable tragedy, Kate and Gerry McCann strive to live life as normally as possible for the sake of their son and daughter, say those close to the family.
Heartbreakingly, Kate McCann has admitted she still buys birthday and Christmas gifts for missing Madeleine each year. The presents sit wrapped and waiting in Madeleine’s untouched bedroom in the family’s home.
“I obviously have to think about what age she is and something that, whenever we find her, will still be appropriate, so there’s a lot of thought goes into it,”
Kate once confessed emotionally to the BBC.
“But I couldn’t not, you know; she’s still our daughter, she’ll always be our daughter.”
The McCanns keep Madeleine’s bedroom frozen in time as a poignant symbol of her enduring place in their family.
