May 3: Madeleine McCann disappears from her family hotel room while her parents eat dinner nearby. Her younger brother and sister, twins, remain undisturbed. The alarm is raised soon after 10pm.

May 4: Sniffer dogs are brought in, the Spanish police, border police and airports are notified and volunteer teams comb the village, resort and beach for clues.

May 5: Portuguese detectives reveal they believe Madeleine was abducted but is still alive and in Portugal. They say they have a sketch of a “suspect”.

May 7: Police begin investigating a claim a man was seen dragging a girl towards a marina a short drive from the Portuguese resort where Madeleine went missing.

May 10: Reports say police are investigating the possibility that Madeleine was snatched by a group of three - two men and a woman.

May 11: A businessman offers a reward of £1 million for information leading to the return of Madeleine. David Beckham makes a television appeal for information from the public.

May 12: Madeleine turns four. The reward, from a collection of businessmen and the public, rises to £2.5 million.

May 14: The home of a Robert Murat, 160 yards from where Madeleine was snatched, is searched by police.

May 15: Robert Murat, a British father, is officially classed as a "suspect" by police in Portugal. He claims he is being made a scapegoat in the investigation. He is not arrested.

May 16: Detectives in Portugal swoop on the home of 22-year-old Russian, Sergey Malinka, who designed a website for Robert Murat and examine phone records between the two men.

May 17: At the first Test match against the West Indies at Lord’s, England cricket captain Andrew Strauss and his team all wear yellow ribbons in support of efforts to find Madeleine.

May 24: £300,000 is raised for a "fighting fund" to pay for the search for Madeleine and www.findmadeleine.com website has received over 120 million hits.

May 25: The first detailed description of a possible suspect is issued by police. Police in Portugal speak of an attempt to snatch a girl similar to Madeleine last year.

May 30: Kate and Gerry McCann attend an audience with the Pope at the Vatican.

June 10: The investigation is hit by news that the detective coordinating the hunt for Madeleine's abductor has been charged with criminal offences over another missing child case.

June 15: Portuguese police search a patch of scrubland 9 miles from where Madeleine disappeared after receiving a letter that claimed a body was buried there. Nothing is found.

June 20: On a 24-hour visit to London, Gerry McCann saves a man's life on a plane and has his wallet stolen.

June 22: 50 balloons in 50 countries are released to mark the 50th day since Madelein's disappearance.

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