Father of missing Yorkshire chef sends emotional support to parents of Madeleine McCann as new twist in investigation revealed

Peter Lawrence, the father of the York chef, who has been missing from York since 2009, gave a very powerful and emotional interview last night with Kirsty Wark on BBC2 Newsnight regarding the latest news surrounding the disappearance 13 years ago of Madeleine McCann in Portugal.

In it he expressed his solidarity with, and support and prayers for, Maddy’s family and friends in the hopes that they might at long last discover what happened to her in 2007.

Peter, who lives in Slingsby, said: “I am all to aware of what having a loved one missing for such a great length of time does to those left behind: it eats into you like a cancer and there is no relief whilst the lack of knowing what has happened to them continues to exist.”

Police in Germany and Portugal are now pursuing their strongest lead yet in the disappearance of Madeleine, who was three when she went missing while on holiday with her parents Kate and Jerry in Praia da Luz.

Circumstantial evidence has convinced detectives that a 43-year-old German child sex offender and rapist, known as Christian B, is their prime suspect as it emerged he has been known to police for years.

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