Heard for the first time, the excited voice of Madeleine enjoying her last family Christmas

The parents of Madeleine McCann are due to release a video featuring the missing toddler’s voice for the first time.
Maddie is heard in a touching home movie, filmed as she enjoyed her last family Christmas.
The video shows her, dressed in her favourite pink, sitting on the stairs of her Leicestershire home with younger twin siblings Sean and Amelie,
encouraging them: ‘Clap your hands together and one, two, three.’
Picture of hope: This still from the family video shows Madeleine happily playing with twins Sean and Amelie

'Difficult time': At the end of the film Kate and Gerry McCann plead for help so they do not have to spend a third Christmas without Madeleine.
‘This message is entirely focused on Madeleine, as it should be at this time of year. They are still very much continuing a lot of hard work behind the scenes in the search for their daughter.

‘This, they feel, is a timely and appropriate reminder that she is still out there and that somebody somewhere may still have that vital piece of information that may lead to her being found.’
It has been a gruelling year for the McCanns. The couple started 2008 as arguidos, or formal suspects, in their daughter’s disappearance.

Then came a series of painful landmarks, in particular the first anniversary of Madeleine’s vanishing on May 3 and her fifth birthday nine days later.
Prosecutors announced in July this year that they were shelving the case and lifting the couple’s arguido status.

In August, thousands of pages from the official Portuguese police files were made public, revealing the many different lines officers pursued in their 14-month inquiry.

The McCanns have had the police documents from the investigation translated into English and are going through them painstakingly with, it is understood, a small team of retired senior British police officers.
The new video is due to be put on the website: http://www.findmadeleine.com on Sunday
Happy times: Madeleine holds a present in this still from the video
Kate and Gerry decided not to make a new appearance in the video but it includes an emotional appeal from them.

They say: ‘Christmas is a time for children. Please help bring our daughter back.’
And as the video closes, they say: ‘This will be our second Christmas without our daughter. Please help us make sure we don’t have a third.’
Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished from the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal in May last year.
The newly released video was mostly filmed at Christmas 2006, the last time the McCanns celebrated the festive period with all their children.
Adorable: Madeleine dressed as a pink fairy in the family film
The McCanns will spend this Christmas with the twins and close family and friends but their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said it would be a ‘difficult time of year’.
He said: ‘Producing a video like this is itself making it more difficult. But they are doing it because they believe Madeleine is still out there. Kate and Gerry do not wish to say anything further. They feel the video will speak for itself.

Delighted at her new pair of slip-ons, Madeleine looks into the camera, smiles and says: ‘These are my shoes.’
Her father Gerry, who is filming her, asks what colour they are and she replies: ‘Pink!’
Madeleine, then three, leaps up from the stairs and dances around the wooden floor, waving her shoes and looking up at the light streaming in from a window.
The short film also shows her dancing in a fairy costume and jokingly hitting Gerry with a soft toy. Then in a montage she is seen turning over a present and pointing at the camera as her smiling mother Kate holds her.

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• appeal
• beth
• christmas
• madeleine
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[lofflercopter]

What song is this?

[JANETMARIEJAMES]

Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars

[JANETMARIEJAMES]

Thank you for your kind words ..

I am sure it is much appreciated by the family.

[JANETMARIEJAMES]

Thank you for your Continued Support :)

For those of you who are not yet familiar with this video, please read the more info tab.

[MissAmerycanAirlynes]

this is so sad. it's almost christmas again, and maddie still hasn't come home. KEEP PRAYING FOR MADDIE! pray that she comes hope soon!

[MissAmerycanAirlynes]

this video was great. GREAT JOB!

[JANETMARIEJAMES]

Leicestershire, England

Kate and Gerry had IVF treatment for Maddie in Leicestershire.

They had IVF for two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie in Amsterdam, Holland.

[chattyscotty]

DO YOU KNOW SHE WAS BORN

[FindAHouseUK]

It's very scary being in a foreign country with children. We were on edge all the time. Hope she's found soon!

[LibertineLover07]

i couldnt stop thinking about this today, its a parents worst nightmare, i hope they find her alive and well.x

[LibertineLover07]

i will always belive that little girl is alive and well until proven otherwise. Hopefully she will be returned to her parents soon.

[Hattieriding]

yes they should and take sniffer dogs every and not just portugal