Madeleine McCann’s twin brother and sister celebrated their 18th birthdays today – sixteen years after her disappearance.
Sean and Amelie McCann were in the same room as their sister, then three, when she vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.
Born on February 1, 2005, the twins – who were just two and a quarter at the time – have today turned 18 and reached adulthood.
Maddie disappeared from her bed in the holiday villa while her parents Gerry and Kate, from Rothley in Leicestershire, were having dinner with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant just 55 metres away.
Kate checked the children at 10pm to find Maddie had disappeared but the twins were still sleeping soundly in their cots.
Madeleine McCann’s twin brother and sister celebrated their 18th birthdays today – sixteen years after her disappearance. Pictured is a police handout photo of Madeleine
Kate and Gerry McCann, pictured in 2017, were having dinner just 55 metres away from Maddie was sleeping in the Portuguese resort
Their older sister would be aged 19 if she is still alive – turning 20 in May – as it approaches the sixteenth anniversary of her disappearance.
In 2020, 45-year-old paedophile Christian Brueckner was named the prime suspect over Madeleine’s disappearance by authorities in Germany, where Brueckner is imprisoned.
He denies any involvement in the McCann’s missing daughter, who is feared dead by police.
Reports in December suggested that German police could charge Brueckner in the New Year.
Sean and Amelie have been kept out of the spotlight during the high-profile investigation into Maddie’s disappearance, The Sun reported.
The twins are in their final year in the sixth form at a Catholic school in Loughborough, which held a place for Maddie if she was ever found during her would-be school years.
They are reportedly aspiring athletes, taking part in swimming championships, triathlons and cross country racing.
An aerial view of the Ocean Club apartments and tapas bar in Praia da Luz, where Maddie disappeared in 2007
If Maddie is still alive she would be 19 – and due to turn 20 this May on the sixteenth anniversary of her disappearance
Last year her parents quoted a poignant line from A.A.Milne’s Winne-the-Pooh for the fifteenth anniversary of her disappearance
Kate McCann’s memoir ‘Madeleine’ offers insight into family life before and after the disappearance of the family’s eldest daughter.
She wrote of the twins’ birth: ‘Suddenly we were a family of five. How lucky we felt.’
She also described Maddie’s reaction to seeing her younger siblings for the first time, saying her eyes ‘lit up’ and her mouth ‘opened wide in astonishment’.
She added: ‘It was such a special moment, one of my fondest memories of Madeleine.’
Earlier this month, Gerry and Kate McCann, 54, said they would never forget Maddie or give up in a Facebook post.
They said: ‘Christmas and other celebratory events will never be the same with our family incomplete, but we continue to make the best of our situation whilst never forgetting or giving up.
‘We head into the New Year with continued determination and positivity.’
Last year her parents quoted a poignant line from A.A.Milne’s Winne-the-Pooh for the fifteenth anniversary of her disappearance.
They wrote on Facebook: ‘But the most important thing is, even if we are apart, I’ll always be with you.
‘This year we mark fifteen years since we last saw Madeleine. It feels no harder than any other but no easier either. It’s a very long time.
‘Many people talk about the need for ‘closure’. It’s always felt a strange term. Regardless of outcome, Madeleine will always be our daughter and a truly horrific crime has been committed. These things will remain.’
