Amelie McCann has spoken out for the first time, 16 years after her sister Madeleine McCann went missing on a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.
The 18-year-old spoke at a vigil in the British family’s home village of Rothley in Leicestershire, marking the anniversary of Madeleine’s tragic disappearance.
Madeline, aged three, disappeared in May 2007 when she and her siblings had been left asleep in the family’s hotel room while their parents and a group of friends had dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Amelie and her twin brother Sean were two years old at the time.
Amelie, now 18, was joined by her parents at the vigil, but Sean did not make an appearance.
“It’s nice that everyone is here together but it’s a sad occasion,” she said as she lit a candle for her sister and other missing children.
According to the Daily Mail, Fiona Payne, a friend of the family who joined them on the 2007 Portugal holiday, was also present at the vigil.
Kate and Gerry McCann also posted a statement on the Find Madeline website, marking the 16th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.
The police investigation is still ongoing.
The anniversary comes two weeks after a German court declined to hear a sex offences case against a German man who is a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance.
Christian Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for a rape he committed in Portugal in 2005.
The new charges relate to a string of separate cases involving sexual offences allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
Braunschweig state court denied responsibility for new charges against Brueckner due to evidence regarding his last known address in Germany.
Brueckner’s last known German residence before moving to Portugal has been disputed, and the Braunschweig state court ruled there is evidence of an address in the neighbouring state of Saxony-Anhal.
Image credit: Getty/Instagram
This article first appeared on Over60.