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

The latest advancement in their 18-year search is a new dig for proof on land close to Praia Da Luz, where she went missing.
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But while the McCanns' distress and yearning is the public image Britain is used to, there is a private side to the couple - as proud moms and dads of Maddie's 2 younger siblings.

Today MailOnline can reveal details of the successful boy Maddie's younger brother has ended up being. Sean McCann is now an elite swimmer training like an Olympic athlete.

Meanwhile, officers in Portugal have been seen clearing greenery around abandoned structures, wearing protective equipment such as hard hats and face masks, and a digger was utilized to move debris.
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The location where they are working is an area of fields and scrubland in between a main road and the sea, with a few buildings consisting of a vineyard.

Back in Britain, Maddie's brother Sean, seen below positioning proudly in his royal blue Scottish Swimming 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 competing in an open water swimming celebration in the Mediterranean.

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

Madeleine McCann vanished on May 3, 2007, while on vacation with her parents and brother or sisters

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

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

Firefighters and search teams inspect a well at a derelict and abandoned residential or commercial property to the west of Praia De Luz, Portugal, where searches are being carried out by officers examining the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

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

Sean and Amelie have actually matured being referred to as 'Maddie's more youthful siblings', as she continues to be a routine 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 search for Madeleine McCann is 'over the leading'

Their moms and dads later on did their finest to keep them out of the spotlight, although Kate when recounted publicly how as an infant Sean had actually brandished a toy sword and said he was going to get the 'bad man' who had snatched his sis away.

In 2023 Amelie, then 18, openly joined her parents for the very first time in years for an informal prayer event 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 almost 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 gym three times a week.

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

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

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

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

A report of the occasion said he had become part of the leading pack and broke from the remainder of the field to complete in 1:00.53 - almost two minutes ahead of 4th place.

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

Madeleine McCann's family find delight 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 national team due to his father's Scottish roots, mentioned his training regime after being awarded a ₤ 400 Inspire Award grant by a charity established in memory of Joe Humphries, 14, from Rothley who died suddenly while running in 2012.

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

Sean composed on the charity's website: '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 ten I was selected to swim at City of Leicester (Leicestershire's performance swimming club), and I have actually because gone on to win numerous county titles in addition to ending up being local and nationwide champion in my age.

Maddie McCann's sister Amelie (right) lit a candle 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 achieved this, I have actually needed to remain very dedicated, getting up at 4am several early mornings each week to train considering that the age of 11.

'I am currently studying chemical engineering, and train 9 times a week in the pool, as well as three gym sessions, amounting to over 20 hours of training (per) week. I am intending to compete at the 2026 Commonwealth Games and likewise the 2028 Olympics in LA.

'The Inspire awards will help me to money travel and lodging for the Scottish National Swimming Championships in Edinburgh, where I will acquire important racing experience prior to the Olympic swimming trials in April 2024.'

Meanwhile, Sean's sister Amelie has been referred to as popular and outgoing along with athletic - she is understood to have actually competed in cross nation and triathlon events at school.

When not at university, Sean and Amelie still cope with heart expert Gerry, 56, and former GP Kate, 57, who deals with dementia patients, in the very same ₤ 800,000 redbrick removed home on a cul-de-sac in Rothley they have been in since 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 near to the previous home of Christian Brueckner, a convicted sex wrongdoer who is the prime suspect in Maddie's disappearance.

The most recent police activity in the event involving their missing sis follows a tip-off from German police about Brueckner, presently 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 formally stated a suspect by Portuguese police in 2022.

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

The following year, a previous friend declared he had all but confessed to the abduction, by saying: 'She didn't yell', throughout a conversation about the case at a music celebration in 2008.

German investigators later searched the Arade tank in the Algarve, 31 miles from the vacation resort, for evidence connected to Maddie - however to no obtain. Images of Brueckner presenting naked next to the exact same tank were discovered on his hard disk drive.

Brueckner continues to deny any participation and has never ever been charged. Indeed, last year he was acquitted on unassociated rape and sexual attack charges.

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

The McCanns have made no discuss the most current discoveries.

But disgraced former Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral branded the new searches over the leading and wheeled out a sick 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 incorrectly blamed the missing out on youngster's moms and dads, also accused his own former authorities force of 'connivance' with 'shoddy' German polices.

Amaral, shaken off the Madeleine examination in 2008 after publicly criticising British police involved in the case, exposed his theory to Portuguese daily Correio da Manha.

He declared of the fresh searches that are occurring: 'This much wasn't required. An airplane with geo-radar would have sufficed and decreased the search area.'

Maddie vanished aged 3 while on a household vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007

Amaral added: 'The Germans need to have had nothing to do with the investigation. This was a British authorities technique with support from the Portuguese police.'

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

'We don't understand what evidence cops have,' the source stated.

'If it is him, and there's no direct and definitive proof, he may never ever state a word. He's not stating a word now. It may be, regretfully, that we never understand what took place to Madeleine. But we wish to learn. We keep hoping after all these years.'

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

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

Kate and Gerry have actually also faced upsetting individual attacks, the majority of openly in 2007 when it was revealed they had used contributions from the Find Madeleine appeal to pay their ₤ 2,000-a-month mortgage. Both had actually taken unsettled leave from work to sign up with the search for their daughter.

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

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

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

A DNA test proved she was not, however Wandel continued to speak up on social media, and it is declared she travelled to the UK in May in 2015 to go to Maddie's annual memorial service.

The second, Karen Spragg, 60, from Cardiff, faces one charge of stalking including severe alarm or distress in between May 3, 2024, and 21 February this year. Both pleaded innocent at Leicester Crown Court last month and are due to go on trial in October.

They are also alleged to have actually stalked Amelie and Sean who have, till recent years, stayed totally out of the spotlight at their moms and dads' wish.

'They have actually constantly remained in Madeleine's shadow, and simply been the McCann twins,' a household good friend informed the Mail. 'Today they are young people, they are carving out their own lives.'

In March, Gerry won a prominent award, totalling ₤ 80,000, to fund his continuous research study into heart problem. Colleagues praised his 'life-altering work'.