McCanns Give First TV Interview Since Being Declared Suspects

LONDON, Oct. 25 2007 —, 2007 -- The parents of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann gave their first television interview since being named official suspects in their daughter's mysterious disappearance 175 days ago.

"We miss her like crazy," an emotional Kate McCann told a Spanish interviewer Wednesday. "This is a 4-year-old girl," she said. "She needs to be with her family."

Public interest in the missing girl has been high since she vanished from her parents' holiday apartment in Praia de Luz, Portugal.

In a shocking twist last month, Kate and Gerry McCann were named as official suspects by the Portuguese police, leading many observers to wonder whether the parents had a hand in the disappearance of their little girl.

In Wednesday's interview, the couple remained firm in their insistence that neither of them were involved in the disappearance of their daughter.

"We know the truth," Kate McCann said. "I know I'm innocent. Gerry knows he's innocent."

But the British and Portuguese media are not so sure. Recent reports have suggested that the couple accidentally killed Madeleine by administering a lethal dose of sedatives. Others have hinted at Kate McCann's reported frustration at coping with a "difficult" child without adequate support from her husband.

During the interview, both parents dismissed such allegations as "nonsense."

"We shouldn't be giving them the time of day," Gerry McCann said. "There is absolutely no suggestion that Madeleine or the children were drugged. It's outrageous."

Now, nearly six months after their daughter's disappearance, the McCanns are working hard to keep Madeleine's name in the public eye by launching a new hot line, based in Spain and run by private investigators.

Their hope is that anyone with news or sightings of the little girl will call in and help them uncover any new leads that will lead them to their daughter who, they believe, is still alive, despite media speculation to the contrary.

Wednesday, Kate McCann reiterated her belief that "Madeleine is out there. I think she's probably in someone's house."

"As Madeleine's mommy," she said, "I feel in my heart really that she's there and I don't believe that Madeleine has been taken away from us permanently — I don't believe it, I don't feel it."

"I don't know who would harm her," Gerry McCann said. He said that he hoped people would help "to reunite an innocent 4-year-old girl with her parents."

The McCanns also spoke of how their 2-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie, miss their older sister and often ask about her.

"The hardest thing for me," Gerry McCann said, "is when they say things like, 'when is Madeleine coming home?' And we have to say that we don't know. … That everyone's looking for her."

After such a long wait, and as hope of finding Madeleine alive wanes, the McCanns insist that their daughter is still "out there," waiting for them to find her.

"All I'm going to say," Kate McCann declared, "is I am Madeleine's mommy. I know she was taken from that apartment. Please help her and I want her back."