This is how Madeleine McMcCann looks today, according to police who have issued this age progression picture to show her as a nine-year-old and to mark the 5th anniversary of her disappearance on 3 May 2007.

I think she looks older than nine,  I’m not sure how accurate these age progression images are. But what the release of this picture does is provide hope to Madeleine’s parents, especially as it comes with a statement from Scotland Yard saying they genuinely believe she is alive and have identified new leads for investigation. It’s a bitter sweet consolation for the McCanns if police in Portugal refuse to re-open their investigation.

With all my heart I hope that Madeleine is safe and well and will be found one day very soon. What loving parent is ever going to give up trying to discover the truth about their missing child?

There are many other families with missing loved ones who I have written about on my blog, and they also want answers. They want the police to continue their search for them too and I’m sure they would cry with happiness if Scotland Yard offered their support. I met some of these families on a march in London and you can read some of their heart breaking stories here.

And are the British police trying to solve the disappearance of Carole Day, a British ex-pat living in Hong Kong whose husband was a judge, and vanished after travelling to Manila on a business trip on 10th September, 2010? Can Scotland Yard help her family too?

In memory of those who are still missing.