The parents of Madeleine McCann still hope to receive a ransom demand for the return of their abducted daughter as they prepare to continue spreading their appeal for her return across Europe.

Detectives believe that the person who took Madeleine from the bedroom of a holiday apartment in the Algarve 32 days ago could have been deterred from demanding a ransom because of the enormous publicity surrounding her disappearance.

Kate and Gerry McCann are clinging to the hope that a demand will be included among the hundreds of letters they receive every day in Portugal and Britain.

The torment of spending the past four weeks searching for their daughter caught up with Mrs McCann yesterday when she broke down in tears during an emotional church service in Praia da Luz.

Madeleine McCann: the key questions

Why are the "Tapas 9" key to solving the Madeleine mystery?

Related Internet Links

• The latest full coverage of Madeleine McCann

BACKGROUND

• McCanns consider interview bids

• Madeleine McCann: the global reaction

• The forgotten victim in the McCann case

Multimedia

• Pictures: searching for Madeleine

• Video: McCann family start holiday

The locum GP cried after a young Portuguese girl kissed her when the congregation at the Igreja Nossa Senhora da Luz were asked to exchange a sign of peace. Clutching Madeleine’s favourite toy Cuddle Cat and a copy of her favourite book, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Mrs McCann struggled to compose herself.

The couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, later issued a statement to mark a calendar month since their four-year-old daughter was snatched from the bedroom where she was sleeping with her two-year-old twin brother and sister, Sean and Amelie.

“It is incredibly difficult not having Madeleine here,” they said. “As every day, every week, becomes a month, we still believe she is out there and alive and we remain positive and determined that we will find her soon with everyone’s help. We do realise it is just a phone call that we need.”

Mr McCann, a consultant cardiologist, has said that he is prepared to sell the family’s home in Rothley to pay for his daughter to be returned. He said: “If we thought it would secure her safe return, we would sell our house. We would do anything to get our daughter back.”

Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, of the Policia Judiciaria, said that the worldwide media interest that started within hours of Madeleine’s disappearance could have meant that a kidnapper has felt too vulnerable to make a ransom demand.

“Whoever took the child could have the objective of ransom but did not ask for it because they panicked because of the media attention in the case,” Mr Sousa said. “But who would ask for money for the girl when her image is running around the world? A kidnapper could have the child well hidden and could be close by.”

Portuguese and British police are also monitoring new discoveries of paedophile movies and websites, but admit it is unlikely that Madeleine will feature because of her fame.

Mr and Mrs McCann, both 38, are determined to keep their daughter’s abduction in the public eye in the hope that someone might hold the key to her whereabouts.

They will travel to Berlin and Amsterdam this week and will visit Morocco after reports that a girl resembling Madeleine had been seen in Marrakesh.

J. K. Rowling is considering putting bookmarks bearing Madeleine’s face in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is due out on July 21.

British telecommunications experts have been in Praia da Luz attempting to locate the position of mobile telephones in the area at the time Madeleine disappeared.

It was also claimed yesterday that the Government Communications Headquarters was monitoring telephone calls for intelligence on Madeleine’s whereabouts.

Times Recommends

• No apology for Germany’s own Nazi victims
• Intricate web of fear and hope tying down deal
• Victims remembered a year after Mumbai attacks