KEEPING THE Find Madeleine campaign in the headlines is priority for everyone affected by the disappearance of the four-year-old on May 3.
Kate and Gerry are in regular contact with British police liaison officers, consular officials and a network of family and friends. Although the McCanns are shielded from operational details on a day-to-day basis, they insist that they remain firmly in control.
They have also gathered a high-powered team of legal and press advisers to ensure every effort is made to keep the search for Madeleine in the public eye.
The man at the helm of the operation is Clarence Mitchell, a former BBC journalist and the current director of the Media Monitoring Unit in the Cabinet Office in Whitehall. He was sent out to Portugal by the Foreign Office as chief adviser to the McCanns.
Mr Mitchell has been seen regularly accompanying groups of journalists on evenings out in Praia da Luz, revealing leads in an attempt to keep the media stationed in the vicinity.
Mr Mitchell said. “Kate and Gerry are well aware that this level of media interest cannot be sustained in the long term and are honestly surprised that it has lasted as long as it has.”
He has described the visits to Europe as vital to the campaign saying: “Kate and Gerry feel they need to do whatever it is they can to keep Madeleine in the news as they believe this will help bring her back.”
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