“We’ve been waiting for you,” Madeleine McCann’s parents say in their 20th birthday message

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Madeleine McCann disappeared from her parents’ holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007, and since then they have continued to hope that she is alive and will one day be reunited with them.

Maddie’s parents have shared a new statement on her 20th birthday after she disappeared during a family holiday in 2007 (Getty Images)

Madeleine McCann’s parents celebrated her 20th birthday today by telling their daughter, “We are waiting for you.”

Madeleine was just three years old when she disappeared from her mum and dad’s vacation apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007.

Kate and Jerry McCann, of Rothley, Lakes, continued to hope she was still alive and would one day be reunited.

The couple will be celebrating Madeleine’s birthday at a small, private family gathering today.

In a Facebook post on the official Find Madeleine campaign page, they wrote: “Happy birthday Madeleine! We love you and wait for you. We will never give up.”

Madeleine McCann disappeared again in May 2007 (PA) Kate and Jerry McCann continued to hope that Maddie would return one day (Getty Images)

They also posted a photo of their daughter taken on the fateful trip to the Algarve 16 years ago and a video of other photos.

A caption below the clip read: “Madeleine McCann turns 20 today.

“She’s still missing, I’m still missing and we’ll never give up trying to find her.”

In the post, they wrote: “Happy birthday Madeline. Still missing. Still missing a lot. Still looking.”

“As long as it takes….”

The message was accompanied by a short video clip appealing to the public to help find Madi and to share a number of photos of her.

One sweet photo showed the younger Maddie wearing pink and smiling from ear to ear as she rode a bike.

The young man’s disappearance made headlines and shocked the nation (Palestinian Authority)

Another showed her on the back of a Shetland pony, alongside her mother, Kate, and in a third, the then-little girl was dressed as a Disney princess.

German Christian Bruckner, who was living on a farm near Praia da Luz in 2007, was chosen as the main suspect.

But the 45-year-old, who is serving a prison sentence in his home country for raping a pensioner in Praia da Luz, denies any involvement.

Earlier this month, the family held a candlelight vigil to mark the 16th anniversary of Maddie’s disappearance.

Dr. Fiona Payne with Kate McCann at a vigil to mark the 16th anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann (Terry Harris)

Neither Kate nor Jerry addressed the crowd, but a Tapas Seven member — who was with Madeleine McCann’s parents the night the little boy went missing — did speak at the vigil.

Dr. Fiona Payne lit a candle and read the poem “Hope is the Thing That Has Feathers” by Emily Dickinson, then hugged Kate.

She remained close to Kate as they were seen chatting on a passionate evening yesterday.

Fiona is part of what has come to be referred to as the “Tapas Seven”, who were the friends who were dining with Kate and Jerry while on vacation in Portugal the night the three-year-old went missing in May 2007.

Tapas Seven were a trio of couples and a mother-of-one who joined the Macans in Portugal’s Praia da Luz for a joint vacation, and nine adults (along with their eight children) spent time together during their vacation.

They were Dr. Fiona Payne, her mother Diane Webster, Fiona’s husband Dr. David Payne, Jane Tanner, her husband Dr. Russell O’Brien, Dr. Matthew Oldfield and his wife Rachel Oldfield.

All of them willingly cooperated with the investigations of the Portuguese and British police and none of them were subjected to ‘arguido’ – persons of interest – in the investigations.

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