Madeleine's Picture Lights Up Marble Arch
Updated: 07:22, Friday May 25, 2007
An image of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann has been projected onto London's Marble Arch ahead of today's International Missing Children's Day.
Her picture featured on a huge projected poster along with two other missing children, Javian Matthews, 14, from London and Samantha Osborn, 15, from Buckinghamshire who both disappeared in April this year.
The Marble Arch landmark was bathed in a pink light dotted with yellow letters heralding the relaunch of the National Missing Persons Helpline.
The charity has been renamed as Missing People, and Madeleine's uncle John McCann is to visit staff and volunteers at the organisation's headquarters in central London later today.
Missing People will also announce a new campaign to adopt a yellow ribbon as an official symbol to remember anyone who has disappeared.
Chief Executive of Missing People Paul Tuohy said: "Madeleine's disappearance has been a wake-up call that 'missing' is a social issue.
"Our charity offers support to around 2000 families each year and directly as a result of our work we find 10 missing people every week.
"We are here for all missing people and although only three could be highlighted tonight, our work goes on for many, many more."
Last Photo Of Madeleine Is Released
Updated: 18:07, Thursday May 24, 2007
The family of missing Madeleine McCann have released the last known photograph of their daughter before her abduction three weeks ago.
The picture shows her smiling and dangling her feet into a swimming pool.
Madeleine, who has turned four since her abduction, is shown enjoying her holiday less than eight hours before she was snatched from her bed.
The picture was taken by Madeleine's mother Kate, 38, on her own camera.
Her daughter is shown smiling, wearing a pink smock top, white shorts and a sun hat as she cools her feet in the swimming pool.
The picture was taken at 2.29pm on May 3 - Mrs McCann's camera clock is one hour out so the display reads 1.29pm.
Less than eight hours later, before 10pm that night, Madeleine disappeared.
She had been sleeping in the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, when she was abducted.
Police in the Algarve holiday resort have re-questioned two people over her disappearance.
But with no news on their daughter, the McCanns are now thought to be planning a European tour in a bid to spread Madeleine's image across the continent in the hope she will be spotted and rescued.
Backed by an army of friends and family in Portugal and Britain, the campaign has attracted the attention of at least 115 million web users.
On Wednesday, the McCanns were showered with kisses and hugs as they left Portugal's holiest site in the town of Fatima before praying privately for almost an hour in a separate chapel.
:: A large-scale projection on Marble Arch of a new yellow ribbon symbol was due to mark the rebranding of the Missing People charity, formerly the National Missing Persons Helpline.
The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have vowed not to lose hope as International Missing Children's Day is marked around the world.
Madeleine, four, will be the focus of many international events more than three weeks after she was snatched from her parents' holiday apartment in Praia Da Luz on the Algarve, Portugal.
In a message carried in the Portuguese press, Gerry and Kate McCann identified with parents of missing children in all countries.
"We, like parents of missing children around the world, will not lose hope," they said.
In Britain, Mr McCann's brother John will visit the London head office of the National Missing Persons Helpline to highlight its work.
Last night Madeleine's image was projected on Marble Arch in London as part of the appeal for information on her whereabouts.
Today she will be the focus of events across Europe, including in Portugal, where her mother Kate is expected to attend a private lunch with a children's charity.
International Missing Children's Day originates from the disappearance on May 25, 1979, of six-year-old Etan Patz in New York.
Over subsequent years his case was kept in the public eye by various organisations and in 1983 US President Ronald Reagan declared May 25 "Missing Children's Day" in America.
The tradition spread to Canada three years later and has since been adopted around the world including the European Union.
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