PRAIA DA LUZ - Kate and Gerry McCann will broaden their search for their missing 4-year-old daughter into a wider campaign on the issues of child trafficking and abduction.
The couple plan to mark the 50th day since Madeleine disappeared with the release of 50 balloons in 50
countries. "We are going to tie it in with other missing kids," said Gerry McCann.
The event on Saturday follows a six-week tour of Europe and North Africa where the McCanns spoke to politicians and child welfare groups.
Madeleine disappeared 46 days ago from the family's holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz.
Meanwhile, the family were said to be "dismayed" at comments made by Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa of the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria, who said potentially crucial evidence may have been destroyed by the McCanns and their friends crowding into the bedroom Madeleine disappeared from shortly after the alarm was raised.
More than 20 people went into the McCann's apartment at the Mark Warner Ocean Club resort on the night of May 3, Sousa told the newspaper Diario de Noticias.
A source said: "It's insensitive at the very least."
- INDEPENDENT
