The parents of Madeleine McCann reportedly feel hopeful they’ll reunite with their daughter after police found missing Cleo Smith.
Four-year-old Cleo was snatched from a campsite in Australia but found unharmed 18 days later.
The case is strikingly similar to Madeleine’s.
Madeleine McCann parents still ‘have hope’
According to a report in The Sun, the fact Cleo Smith was found has renewed their hope that Maddie could also be.
Kate and Gerry, both 53, have been closely following the case of Cleo, dubbed the ‘Aussie Maddie’.
Read more: Madeleine McCann’s parents fear suspect Christian B ‘will never say a word’
During a holiday in Portugal’s Praia da Luz in 2007, Madeleine went missing from her bed aged three.
Her parents and family friends were having dinner nearby.
The discovery of Cleo in Australia renewed their hope Maddie, who would be 18 now, could one day be found, according to a source.
The insider said: “Kate and Gerry knew about the case which has had a lot of publicity here, and were willing, like most people, for her to be found alive.
They never stop hoping for that happy and positive news
“It’s the news every parent of a missing child hope and prays for, no matter how long it’s been.
“They are thankful Cleo has been found and share their parents joy at the outcome.”
What happened in the Cleo Smith case?
Police charged Australian 36-year-old Terence Kelly with the alleged abduction of Cleo yesterday.
She disappeared from a Blowholes campsite in Western Australia on October 16.
On Wednesday (November 3), cops swooped on a locked house in a 1am stint after a sudden tip off and found Cleo.
Officers discovered her in a bedroom and asked her for her name.
The little girl replied: “My name is Cleo.”
The house is 47 miles from the campsite she was at with her family, and just two miles away from their home.
Read more: Madeleine McCann’s mother Kate ‘returns to NHS frontline to help fight COVID’
After they reunited, Cleo’s mum Ellie Smith said her family “is whole again”.
Is there any movement on Maddie’s case?
Doctors Kate and Gerry recently found further hope after a boy in China reunited with his family 24 years after he went missing.
Guo Xinzhen was just two when human traffickers kidnapped him.
Police are hoping to secure a further £1.25 million from the Home Office to continue the global search for Maddie.
A family source added: “They never stop hoping for that happy and positive news.”
Kate and Gerry posted in May that they ‘hang onto hope however small’ that they will one day reunite with their daughter.
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