Yeremi Vargas, aged seven, vanished while playing outside his home on the holiday island of Gran Canaria three  months ago. He was last seen playing with two of  his cousins just a stone’s throw away from his family on 9 March.

Extensive enquiries and searches by hundreds of volunteers have failed to find him, 10,000 posters have been put up around Spain, Yeremi’s picture has been posted on YouTube and more than 4,000 people attended a rally in support of his family. He is described as “very shyâ€?.

The family’s ordeal was made worse following a sick hoax caller demanding money for his safe return. But Yeremi’s disappearance has also touched many people, including a pensioner who reportedly put her small monthly payment up as a reward for his return.

Yeremi’s mother , who is 24, was traumatised and had to be sedated following his disappearance.

“They have taken my son and are doing something awful to him.�

His family has been offering support to Madeline McCann’s parents. Tragically, Yeremi’s disappearance is the second child abduction case to rock the island in less than a year.

Last July, a 14-year-old girl named Sara Morales vanished from Las Palmas, the main city on Gran Canaria, while on her way to a shopping centre. As with Yeremi, the island community joined together to search for the teenager and put up thousands of “missing” posters.

The two disappearances have shaken the local community and raised fears among islanders that the cases are linked and that a paedophile is at large.

In memory of those who are still missing.