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Kate and Gerry McCann are going through a fresh bout of suffering as cops in Portugal search for out what happened to their missing out on child Madeleine.

The current advancement in their 18-year search is a new dig for proof on land near to Praia Da Luz, where she went missing out on.

But while the McCanns' distress and yearning is the public image Britain is used to, there is a personal side to the couple - as proud moms and dads of Maddie's two younger siblings.

Today MailOnline can expose information of the successful boy Maddie's more youthful sibling has actually become. Sean McCann is now an elite swimmer training like an Olympic athlete.

Meanwhile, officers in Portugal have actually been seen clearing greenery around deserted structures, using protective equipment such as construction hats and face masks, and a digger was utilized to move debris.

The location where they are working is an area of fields and scrubland in between a primary roadway and the sea, with a couple of structures including a vineyard.

Back in Britain, Maddie's brother Sean, seen below positioning proudly in his royal blue Scottish Swimming t-shirt, is being tipped to complete at the 2028 games in Los Angeles for Team GB.

The 20-year-old was snapped with a gold medal around his neck after contending in an open water swimming celebration in the Mediterranean.

Sean McCann, 20, won a gold medal after contending in an open water swimming festival

Madeleine McCann vanished on May 3, 2007, while on holiday with her parents and siblings

Gerry and Kate McCann with Amelie and Sean in their house in Praia da Luz in 2007

Fresh cops searches are under way near the area where Madeleine McCann was last seen near Praia da Luz, Portugal

Firefighters and search teams inspect a well at a run-down and abandoned residential or commercial property to the west of Praia De Luz, Portugal, where searches are being performed by officers investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

He and his twin sis Amelie were just 2 years of ages when Maddie vanished from their vacation apartment in the Portuguese resort on May 3, 2007.

Sean and Amelie have matured being referred to as 'Maddie's more youthful siblings', as she continues to be a regular in the news to this day.

The more youthful siblings were photographed frequently as young kids as the story went worldwide.

Former Portuguese investigator says brand-new search for Madeleine McCann is 'over the top'

Their moms and dads later on did their best to keep them out of the spotlight, although Kate once stated publicly how as a baby Sean had brandished a toy sword and said he was going to get the 'bad guy' who had actually nabbed his sister away.

In 2023 Amelie, then 18, openly joined her moms and dads for the very first time in years for a casual prayer event on the 16th anniversary of Maddie's disappearance at the family home village of Rothley, Leicestershire.

And Sean, who is studying chemical engineering at university, has been swimming competitively for almost 10 years.

He revealed in 2023 he had actually been getting up at 4am to swim before school because the age of 11, and going to the fitness center three times a week.

The trainee has actually set his sights on representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year and contending in Los Angeles in 2028.

Sean was envisioned smiling on a beach last May after winning gold in the males's 1,500 m race without a wetsuit at the very best Fest Open Water Festival in Colonia Sant Jordi, Mallorca.

Sean has actually set his sights on representing Team GB at the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028

In the exact same festival, he scooped up bronze in the guys's 5,000 m swim with a wetsuit while competing as part of Scottish Swimming's Open Water Development Squad.

A report of the event stated he had actually been part of the leading pack and broke from the remainder of the field to end up in 1:00.53 - nearly two minutes ahead of fourth place.

Sean was also part of Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago in 2023 where he took part in the 400m and 1,500 m freestyle finals.

Madeleine McCann's household find happiness after heartbreak: Sean McCann is tipped to swim for Team GB

And he represented Great Britain in the 10km race of the European Junior Open Water Swimming Championships in Corfu in 2023 when he came 20th.

Sean, who joined Scottish Swimming's nationwide team due to his daddy's Scottish roots, mentioned his training regime after being awarded a ₤ 400 Inspire Award grant by a charity set up in memory of Joe Humphries, 14, from Rothley who passed away unexpectedly while running in 2012.

The Joe Humphries Memorial Trust intends to promote research into and awareness of Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome, which caused the death of the youngster, referred to as 'fit, healthy, lively and enjoyable loving' by his household.

Sean wrote on the charity's site: 'I started competitive sport when I was 8, joining Charnwood triathlon club. It was here that I discovered my passion for swimming and I signed up with Loughborough Town swimming club to increase the number of swim sessions I did per week.

'At the age of ten I was selected to swim at City of Leicester (Leicestershire's performance swimming club), and I have actually considering that gone on to win several county titles as well as ending up being regional and national champion in my age.

Maddie McCann's sister Amelie (right) lit a candle light in her memory as she joined her moms and dads and well-wishers on the poignant 16th anniversary of the toddler's disappearance in 2023

'In order to have attained this, I have actually needed to stay exceptionally devoted, getting up at 4am several mornings weekly to train because the age of 11.

'I am presently studying chemical engineering, and train nine times a week in the swimming pool, along with three health club sessions, totalling over 20 hours of training (per) week. I am intending to compete at the 2026 Commonwealth Games and likewise the 2028 Olympics in LA.

'The Inspire awards will assist me to money travel and accommodation for the Scottish National Swimming Championships in Edinburgh, where I will get valuable racing experience prior to the Olympic swimming trials in April 2024.'

Meanwhile, Sean's sis Amelie has actually been referred to as popular and outgoing as well as athletic - she is understood to have actually competed in cross country and triathlon events at school.

When not at university, Sean and Amelie still live with heart professional Gerry, 56, and previous GP Kate, 57, who deals with dementia clients, in the same ₤ 800,000 redbrick removed home on a cul-de-sac in Rothley they have remained in since 2007.

The UK's best-known missing out on individual case is as soon as again back in the spotlight after it emerged this week that police in Portugal are to carry out fresh searches.

They are searching the land close to the former home of Christian Brueckner, a founded guilty sex wrongdoer who is the prime suspect in Maddie's disappearance.

The current authorities activity in the event including their missing sibling follows a tip-off from German cops about Brueckner, currently in jail for the 2005 rape of an American pensioner in Portugal

He was working as a waiter in Praia da Luz at the time of her disappearance and was formally declared a suspect by Portuguese cops in 2022.

Kate and Gerry McCann with their child Amelie (bottom right) during a prayer service in 2023

The list below year, a previous buddy claimed he had all but admitted to the kidnapping, by saying: 'She didn't scream', during a discussion about the case at a music celebration in 2008.

German investigators later on searched the Arade reservoir in the Algarve, 31 miles from the holiday resort, for evidence connected to Maddie - however to no obtain. Pictures of Brueckner presenting naked next to the exact same reservoir were discovered on his hard disk.

Brueckner continues to deny any participation and has actually never ever been charged. Indeed, in 2015 he was acquitted on and sexual attack charges.

He is due to be launched from jail in September - unless there is an appeal or additional evidence emerges linking him to Maddie's case.

The McCanns have actually made no comment on the most recent discoveries.

But disgraced former Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral branded the new searches over the leading and wheeled out a sick theory about her disappearance.

The ex-detective, who was sued over a 2008 book about the 18-year-old mystery in which he mistakenly blamed the missing out on child's moms and dads, also accused his own previous police of 'connivance' with 'substandard' German police officers.

Amaral, shaken off the Madeleine investigation in 2008 after openly criticising British authorities involved in the case, revealed his theory to Portuguese day-to-day Correio da Manha.

He declared of the fresh searches that are happening: 'This much wasn't required. A plane with geo-radar would have been enough and lowered the search area.'

Maddie vanished aged 3 while on a household holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007

Amaral included: 'The Germans must have had absolutely nothing to do with the examination. This was a British police technique with assistance from the Portuguese cops.'

It comes as a McCann household source told the Mail they were rather 'in the dark' because it is 'a continuous examination' and they have no direct contact with German or Portuguese cops.

'We don't understand what evidence authorities have,' the source stated.

'If it is him, and there's no direct and definitive evidence, he may never say a word. He's not stating a word now. It may be, sadly, that we never understand what happened to Madeleine. But we intend to learn. We keep hoping after all these years.'

The Metropolitan Police's investigation into Maddie's disappearance, called Operation Grange, has gotten ₤ 13. 2million in Office grants, consisting of ₤ 108,000 this year.

With no arrests or official charges in 18 years, some have actually questioned the viability of the fund.

Kate and Gerry have also faced hurtful personal attacks, a lot of publicly in 2007 when it was exposed they had actually used donations from the Find Madeleine interest pay their ₤ 2,000-a-month mortgage. Both had actually taken overdue leave from work to sign up with the look for their child.

Kate and Gerry McCann stop to speak with journalism after a church service in Praia da Luz

This year they have actually faced yet more suffering as 2 females were implicated of sending them letters and text messages, making call and showing up uninvited at their home.

One, Polish-born Julia Wandel, 23, made headlines in 2023 after claiming to be Maddie.

A DNA test showed she was not, but Wandel continued to speak up on social networks, and it is declared she took a trip to the UK in May last year to go to Maddie's yearly memorial service.

The 2nd, Karen Spragg, 60, from Cardiff, deals with one charge of stalking involving major alarm or distress between May 3, 2024, and 21 February this year. Both pleaded not guilty at Leicester Crown Court last month and are because of go on trial in October.

They are likewise declared to have stalked Amelie and Sean who have, up until recent years, stayed completely out of the spotlight at their parents' behest.

'They've always remained in Madeleine's shadow, and just been the McCann twins,' a family good friend told the Mail. 'And now they are young grownups, they are carving out their own lives.'

In March, Gerry won a distinguished award, totalling ₤ 80,000, to fund his continuous research study into cardiovascular disease. Colleagues praised his 'life-altering work'.