Daily Star:
Kidnapped girl found after 17 years: 'Don't give up hope over Maddie'
A COUPLE reunited with their kidnapped daughter after 17 years have urged Madeleine McCann’s parents to “never give up hope”.
By Ed Riley / Published 12th March 2015
Morne Nurse and wife Celeste say they want to contact Kate and Gerry to tell them to keep the search for their child alive.
Their girl, named Zephany, was snatched from her mum’s bedside when she was just three days old in Cape Town, South Africa.
But her parents never gave up looking for their daughter, and continued to keep her memory going by celebrating her birthday every year.
Morne said: “I’m trying to get hold of the mother (Kate McCann).
“What we wanted to tell them is that, never give up.”
Zephany’s mum Celeste said: “All they have to do is just believe and pray and have hope.”
The couple found Zephany last month, after their other daughter befriended a girl at school who looked like her. The friend incredibly turned out to be her big sister who was kidnapped in 1997.
The 50-year-old suspected kidnapper has been released on bail after appearing in court over the abduction.
It is understood the woman, who cannot be identified, had suffered a stillbirth before snatching the tot. She was able to breast feed her and pass her off as her own, without even telling her own husband.
Local police officer Mike Barkhuizen refused to let the case go, and had been looking for the girl for the last five years.
He said he knew the moment he first saw the now teenager that she was the kidnapped baby. Maddie, then three, vanished from an apartment in Portugal in May 2007.
The McCann’s, from Rothley, Lincs, have continued to campaign to find their daughter.
In 2013, Met Police reopened the investigation and have returned to Praia da Luz in the Algarve to follow new leads.
