Madeleine McCann: Father Gerry describes moment he realised his daughter was missing

'I couldn't get the darkest thoughts out of our minds, that somebody had taken her and abused her'

Madeleine McCann’s parents were “completely distraught” when they realised their daughter was missing, her father has said.

Gerry McCann said he knew immediately that his three-year-old daughter had been abducted after she went missing on a family holiday in Praia da Luz in Portugal, in May 2007.

She was just three years old.

Mr McCann told BBC Radio 4 that he began searching after his wife Kate told him their daughter was missing. Their reaction was “almost feral”, he added.

“I couldn’t get the darkest thoughts out of our minds, that somebody had taken her and abused her,” he said. “I felt that every moment that we couldn’t find her was worse. I remember being slumped on the floor and starting to call some of my family members and just saying: ‘Pray for her.’”

Scotland Yard applied for more funding to continue the hunt for Madeleine earlier this week.

There was speculation over the future of the investigation when it emerged funding would run out at the end of September, but the Home Office has now confirmed it is considering an application from the force for more cash.

In a blog published earlier this week, it said: “We have received and are considering a request from the Metropolitan Police Service to extend funding for Operation Grange until the end of March 2019. The Home Office maintains an ongoing dialogue with the MPS regarding funding for Operation Grange.”

Scotland Yard launched its investigation, Operation Grange, into Madeleine’s disappearance in 2013 after a Portuguese inquiry failed to make any headway.

UK detectives were granted an extra £150,000 in March to continue the probe, to cover until the end of September.

Operation Grange has cost £11.6m so far.

Additional reporting by Press Association