It has been a case that has been dominating the UK headlines for over a week. British girl Madeline McCann was kidnapped whilst she slept while staying at a holiday apartment complex in the tiny resort town of Praia da Luz, Portugal. The girl, who only turned 4 years old this past Saturday, was taken from a ground floor apartment where she was sleeping with her younger brother and sister, while her parents were having dinner at a restaurant 30 yards away from the apartment. The parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, were checking on their children on a half hourly basis, when at the 10 PM check the alarm was raised by Mrs. McCann when she did not find Madeline asleep, and instead found the window of the apartment smashed.

The investigation has not garnered any leads as of yet, but the whole British and Portuguese community have been rallying around the McCann family for support. The British and Portuguese police are working together to find the poor child, and British and Portuguese volunteers have been working with the family distributing posters and seraching for the little girl. The Portuguese police have come under heavy criticism for the way this case has been handled (delays in searching, and Portuguese laws prohibiting release of information to the press that if heard by the public could help give useful information toward the investigation).

It is a case that has affected the whole community here very deeply, especially families with young children, as this is such a horrible thing to have to happen to anyone with small children, especially while on holiday in a safe, family friendly community. Even though I live in a very safe area, look after my daughter and keep a very good track of her whereabouts when she is playing outside with her friends, I have found myself finding ways to run errands with her and keep her entertained myself instead of letting her play outside.

As I stated before, this story has been making the front pages of all the papers in the UK, with The Sun creating an e-mail poster of Madeline to be ciculated on the Internet. Reward money has been pouring in, with The News of the World and Virgin boss Richard Branson offering a joint £1.5 million (about $3 million) reward for any information leading to the safe return of Madeline. J.K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series, has also offered £250,000 (about $500,000) for information. Other celebrities contributing to the reward fund include Simon Cowell, Manchester United footballer Wayne Rooney, Topshop tycoon Phillip Green, and the entire England cricket team. The total amount contributed by celebrities for the reward now stands at over £2.5 million (almost $5 million).

David Beckham has gone on Spanish television to appeal for the return of Madeline and to plead for information of her wherabouts, while Manchester United footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has made an appeal of the same sort on Portuguese television.

The McCann’s have gone on live television today to make it clear that they do not intend to leave Portugal until Madeline is returned to them safely, and that they believe in their hear of hearts that Madeline will be returned to them soon. A “fighting fund” is being formed to keep the family there to help fund enquiries and investigation of this case. This is such a terrible case, and everyone is hoping all the celebrity and media attention brought to this case will help bring Madeline home to her family.

I have included a picture of The Sun’s e-mail poster that was made to be circulated around the net. I know this isn’t a celebrity gossip story per say (minus the celebrity involvement), but if any readers can circulate this poster of the little girl, then we can help this family immensely. Bad things happen to children in this cruel world all the time, but if people rally together, we can hopefully help prevent another senseless tragedy from happening.