Madeleine McCann: A timeline of events

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Madeline disappeared from a holiday flat in Portugal six years ago on May 3, 2007 during a family holiday in Praia da Luz. Credit: John Stillwell/PA Wire

  • May 3 2007 - Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley in Leicestershire, leave their three children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz while they eat with friends at a restaurant. Jane Tanner, a friend, says she sees a man carrying a child away earlier in the night.

  • May 5 2007 - Police believe Madeleine has been abducted and draw a sketch of a suspect.

  • May 14 - Robert Murat is taken in for questioning and is made the official suspect. Detectives search his mother's home.

  • May 30 - The McCanns meet the Pope in Rome as part of a series of trips to highlight the search for their daughter.

  • August 11 - 100 days on from her disappearance, detectives acknowledge for the first time that she could be dead.

  • September 7 - Detectives question the McCanns and make them official suspects in the case.

  • October 25 - The McCanns release a new artist's impression of the suspect as described by Jane Tanner.

  • December 22 - The McCanns send a public message to their daughter: "Our only Christmas wish is for you to be back with us again."

  • March 19 2008 - The McCanns accept £550,000 in damages from Express Newspapers over claims they were suspects.

  • April 10 - A leak of the McCanns' first police interviews reveals Madeleine asked her mum why she didn't come 'when we were crying last night.'

  • April 30 - An ITV documentary reveals the McCanns almost decided against leaving their children alone on that night.

  • May 3 - On the first anniversary since her disappearance the parents urge people to 'pray like mad' she returns.

  • July 17 - Robert Murat receives £600,000 in damages from four newspapers connecting him with the disappearance.

  • July 21 - Portugese police shelve the investigation removing the McCanns and Murat as official suspects.

  • July 24 - Goncalo Amaral publishes a book about the case, entitled 'The Truth Of The Lie', in which he alleges that the young girl died in her family's holiday flat on May 3.

  • March 24 2009 - The McCanns launch a new appeal for information in the Algarve.

  • September 23 - The McCanns return together to Portugal for the first time since her disappearance.

  • December 13 - The McCanns return to Praia da Luz as an injuction is granted temporarily banning sales and further publication of Amaral's book.

  • March 6 2010 - The McCanns criticise the release of previously unseen Portuguese police files on their daughter's case to British newspapers which details possible sightings.

  • November - The McCanns signs a publishing deal to write a book about the disappearance.

Madeleine McCann's father, Dr Gerry McCann at the Leveson Inquiry Credit: John Stillwell/PA Wire/Press Association Images

  • May 12 2011 - The McCanns ask David Cameron to launch a review of all information relating to the disappearance of their daughter. They also publish a book encouraging people to come forward in the case.

  • November - The McCanns give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry. Mrs. McCann describes feeling violated when her journal appeared in the News of the World.

  • 9 May 2012 - Detectives from Scotland Yard examine reports of a possible sighting in the Costa del Sol.

  • 1 May 2013 - The McCanns tell ITV they won't give up hope that their daughter will be found, as they prepare to mark the sixth anniversary of her disappearance.

  • 17 May 2013 - Reports that Scotland Yard has identified new suspects in the hunt for Madeleine McCann.