Gerry McCann flies back to Portugal

Madeleine McCann's father returns to Portugal for the first time since her disappearance

Madeleine McCann’s father, Gerry, has returned to Portugal for the first time since he and wife Kate left the country, after the search for their missing daughter proved fruitless. Mr McCann flew back to the holiday region of the Algarve to meet his Portuguese lawyers and discuss further action to help find his missing daughter.

The family spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, confirmed the trip, explained that Kate McCann did not travel there and that Mr McCann had no plans to visit Portuguese officials during his stay.

After flying into Faro airport in the Algarve, Mr McCann then travelled up to Lisbon for planned talks with his legal team. He will now fly back to the UK later today.

Madeleine McCann disappeared when she was nearly four from a holiday apartment during a family break in the Algarve village of Praia da Luz in May 2007.

Despite enormous publicity and a desperate police hunt, Madeleine has still not been found.

Four months into the search, Kate and Gerry McCann were made formal suspects in the case and it wasn’t until July last year that the Portuguese attorney-general lifted this status altogether.

The couple have vowed to continue their search for Madeleine and say they will continue to believe their daughter is still alive until given evidence to the contrary.

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