Kate and Gerry McCann are going through a fresh bout of anguish as police in Portugal try to find out what happened to their missing out on daughter Madeleine.

The latest advancement in their 18-year search is a new dig for evidence on land close to Praia Da Luz, where she went missing out on.

But while the McCanns' distress and yearning is the general public image Britain is used to, there is a private side to the couple - as happy moms and dads of Maddie's two younger siblings.

Today MailOnline can expose information of the successful boy Maddie's younger sibling has ended up being. Sean McCann is now an elite swimmer training like an Olympic athlete.
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Meanwhile, officers in Portugal have actually been seen clearing greenery around deserted structures, wearing protective gear such as tough hats and face masks, and a digger was used to move rubble.

The location where they are working is a location of fields and scrubland in between a primary road and the sea, with a few buildings including a vineyard.

Back in Britain, Maddie's brother Sean, seen below posing happily in his royal blue Scottish Swimming t-shirt, is being tipped to compete at the 2028 video games in Los Angeles for Team GB.

The 20-year-old was snapped with a gold medal around his neck after contending in an open water swimming celebration in the Mediterranean.

Sean McCann, 20, won a gold medal after competing in an open water swimming festival

Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007, while on holiday with her parents and siblings

Gerry and Kate McCann with Amelie and Sean in their apartment in Praia da Luz in 2007

Fresh police searches are under method near the area where Madeleine McCann was last seen near Praia da Luz, Portugal

Firefighters and search groups examine a well at a derelict and deserted residential or commercial property to the west of Praia De Luz, Portugal, where searches are being brought out by officers examining the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

He and his twin sibling Amelie were simply 2 years old when Maddie vanished from their holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort on May 3, 2007.

Sean and Amelie have grown up being understood as 'Maddie's more youthful brother or sisters', as she continues to be a regular in the news to this day.

The more youthful siblings were photographed regularly as young kids as the story went international.

Former Portuguese detective says brand-new search for Madeleine McCann is 'over the top'

Their moms and dads later on did their finest to keep them out of the spotlight, although Kate as soon as recounted publicly how as a baby Sean had actually displayed a toy sword and said he was going to get the 'bad guy' who had taken his sis away.

In 2023 Amelie, then 18, openly joined her moms and dads for the very first time in years for a casual prayer gathering on the 16th anniversary of Maddie's disappearance at the family home town of Rothley, Leicestershire.

And Sean, who is studying chemical engineering at university, has actually been swimming competitively for nearly 10 years.

He exposed in 2023 he had been getting up at 4am to swim before school given that the age of 11, and going to the health club 3 times a week.

The student has set his sights on representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year and contending in Los Angeles in 2028.

Sean was envisioned smiling on a beach last May after winning gold in the men's 1,500 m race without a wetsuit at the very best Fest Open Water Festival in Colonia Sant Jordi, Mallorca.

Sean has actually set his sights on representing Team GB at the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028

In the exact same celebration, he scooped up bronze in the males's 5,000 m swim with a wetsuit while competing as part of Scottish Swimming's Open Water Development Squad.

A report of the event stated he had actually become part of the leading pack and broke from the rest of the field to complete in 1:00.53 - almost 2 minutes ahead of 4th location.

Sean was likewise part of Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago in 2023 where he took part in the 400m and 1,500 m freestyle finals.

Madeleine McCann's household find happiness after heartbreak: Sean McCann is tipped to swim for Team GB

And he represented Great Britain in the 10km race of the European Junior Open Water Swimming Championships in Corfu in 2023 when he came 20th.

Sean, who joined Scottish Swimming's nationwide squad due to his father's Scottish roots, spoke of his training program after being awarded a ₤ 400 Inspire Award grant by a charity set up in memory of Joe Humphries, 14, from who died all of a sudden while running in 2012.

The Joe Humphries Memorial Trust aims to promote research into and awareness of Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome, which triggered the death of the youngster, explained as 'fit, healthy, vibrant and enjoyable loving' by his household.

Sean wrote on the charity's site: 'I started competitive sport when I was 8, signing up with Charnwood triathlon club. It was here that I found my enthusiasm for swimming and I signed up with Loughborough Town swimming club to increase the number of swim sessions I did weekly.

'At the age of 10 I was selected to swim at City of Leicester (Leicestershire's efficiency swimming club), and I have actually since gone on to win numerous county titles along with ending up being local and national champ in my age group.

Maddie McCann's sister Amelie (right) lit a candle light in her memory as she joined her parents and well-wishers on the poignant 16th anniversary of the young child's disappearance in 2023

'In order to have actually accomplished this, I have actually had to stay exceptionally dedicated, getting up at 4am several early mornings every week to train because the age of 11.

'I am presently studying chemical engineering, and train nine times a week in the pool, as well as three gym sessions, amounting to over 20 hours of training (per) week. I am aiming to complete at the 2026 Commonwealth Games and likewise the 2028 Olympics in LA.

'The Inspire awards will assist me to fund travel and accommodation for the Scottish National Swimming Championships in Edinburgh, where I will get important racing experience prior to the Olympic swimming trials in April 2024.'

Meanwhile, Sean's sibling Amelie has been referred to as popular and outbound as well as athletic - she is understood to have actually competed in cross country and triathlon events at school.

When not at university, Sean and Amelie still cope with heart professional Gerry, 56, and previous GP Kate, 57, who works with dementia patients, in the exact same ₤ 800,000 redbrick detached home on a cul-de-sac in Rothley they have actually been in because 2007.

The UK's best-known missing out on individual case is when again back in the spotlight after it emerged this week that cops in Portugal are to perform fresh searches.

They are browsing the land close to the former home of Christian Brueckner, a convicted sex transgressor who is the prime suspect in Maddie's disappearance.

The most recent police activity in the case involving their missing sister follows a tip-off from German cops about Brueckner, currently in jail for the 2005 rape of an American pensioner in Portugal

He was working as a waiter in Praia da Luz at the time of her disappearance and was officially declared a suspect by Portuguese cops in 2022.

Kate and Gerry McCann with their child Amelie (bottom right) throughout a prayer service in 2023

The following year, a previous friend claimed he had all but confessed to the abduction, by stating: 'She didn't shout', during a discussion about the case at a music festival in 2008.

German investigators later on searched the Arade reservoir in the Algarve, 31 miles from the holiday resort, for evidence linked to Maddie - but to no get. Images of Brueckner presenting naked beside the exact same reservoir were found on his difficult drive.

Brueckner continues to reject any participation and has actually never been charged. Indeed, in 2015 he was acquitted on unrelated rape and sexual assault charges.

He is because of be launched from jail in September - unless there is an appeal or further proof emerges connecting him to Maddie's case.

The McCanns have made no discuss the latest discoveries.

But disgraced former Portuguese authorities chief Goncalo Amaral branded the new searches over the top and wheeled out an ill theory about her disappearance.

The ex-detective, who was taken legal action against over a 2008 book about the 18-year-old secret in which he mistakenly blamed the missing child's parents, likewise accused his own previous cops force of 'connivance' with 'substandard' German polices.

Amaral, shaken off the Madeleine investigation in 2008 after openly criticising British police associated with the case, revealed his theory to Portuguese daily Correio da Manha.

He claimed of the fresh searches that are taking place: 'This much wasn't required. An airplane with geo-radar would have been enough and lowered the search area.'

Maddie vanished aged three while on a household holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007

Amaral included: 'The Germans ought to have had absolutely nothing to do with the examination. This was a British cops technique with assistance from the Portuguese cops.'

It comes as a McCann household source told the Mail they were rather 'in the dark' because it is 'a continuous examination' and they have no direct contact with German or Portuguese authorities.

'We do not understand what evidence authorities have,' the source said.

'If it is him, and there's no direct and definitive evidence, he might never ever say a word. He's not saying a word now. It may be, regretfully, that we never ever understand what occurred to Madeleine. But we want to learn. We keep hoping after all these years.'

The Metropolitan Police's investigation into Maddie's disappearance, called Operation Grange, has received ₤ 13. 2million in Home Office grants, including ₤ 108,000 this year.

With no arrests or formal charges in 18 years, some have actually questioned the viability of the fund.

Kate and Gerry have actually likewise dealt with upsetting personal attacks, the majority of openly in 2007 when it was exposed they had actually utilized contributions from the Find Madeleine appeal to pay their ₤ 2,000-a-month mortgage. Both had actually taken unpaid leave from work to join the look for their daughter.

Kate and Gerry McCann stop to talk with journalism after a church service in Praia da Luz

This year they have faced yet more suffering as two ladies were implicated of sending them letters and text, making phone calls and showing up unwelcome at their home.

One, Polish-born Julia Wandel, 23, made headings in 2023 after declaring to be Maddie.

A DNA test showed she was not, but Wandel continued to speak out on social media, and it is declared she took a trip to the UK in May last year to go to Maddie's annual funeral.

The 2nd, Karen Spragg, 60, from Cardiff, deals with one charge of stalking including major alarm or distress in between May 3, 2024, and 21 February this year. Both pleaded not guilty at Leicester Crown Court last month and are due to go on trial in October.

They are likewise alleged to have actually stalked Amelie and Sean who have, until recent years, remained entirely out of the spotlight at their parents' behest.

'They have actually always been in Madeleine's shadow, and just been the McCann twins,' a household pal told the Mail. 'And now they are young people, they are taking their own lives.'

In March, Gerry won a prestigious award, amounting to ₤ 80,000, to money his ongoing research into heart problem. Colleagues praised his 'life-changing work'.
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