Madeleine McCann

At the time of writing Madeleine McCann is still missing.

I became vaguely aware of the story of the 4 year old girl who went missing while on holiday in Portugal from a crackling radio bulletin. I had an odd sense of unease, but it wasn't until the phone rang—“That's Gerry's daughter”—that the penny dropped. I was at university with Madeleine's father. As the media story took off, my children bombarded me with questions, but I just didn't know what to say. The next day I pulled into a local garage. After sifting through all the banal birthday cards I eventually …