Madeleine McCann’s parents have been given “fresh hope” after three US women who went missing a decade ago were found alive on Monday.
Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight escaped the “house of horrors” where they had been held as sex slaves, after neighbours heard Amanda screaming and came to her aid. The trio disappeared in Cleveland, Ohio, in three separate incidents between 2002 and 2004.
Kate and Gerry McCann, who marked the sixth anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance only last week, say the recent events have “reaffirmed” their hopes of finding their daughter alive.
“The discovery of these young women reaffirms our hope of finding Madeleine, which has never diminished,” the couple said in a statement.
“Their recovery is also further evidence that children are sometimes abducted and kept for long periods. So we ask the public to remain vigilant in the ongoing search for Madeleine.
“Our thoughts are with the women in America and their families.”
Michele went missing in 2002 at age 20, while Amanda, 16 at the time, disappeared the following year. Fourteen-year-old Gina didn’t return home from school on April 2, 2004. The trio and Amanda’s six-year-old daughter Joceyln, born in captivity, were rescued from a house located within kilometres of each abduction site.
Three men, Ariel Castro and his brothers Pedro and Onil, have been arrested in connection with the kidnappings.
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