The chilling conversation Kate McCann had with little Madeleine before her disappearance

Madeleine McCann 's mother Kate McCann's comments about a conversation that she had with Maddie the day before she went missing have resurfaced. During a chat with Madeleine while the family were on holiday, she noted that Madeleine had asked where they were when

Discussing it in her memoir, Madeleine: Our Daughter's Disappearance and the Continuing Search for Her, she wrote: "On Thursday, May 3 I awoke in the children’s bedroom. I can’t remember who was up first but I know we had all surfaced by about 7.30 am. At breakfast time, Madeleine had a question for us – ‘Why didn’t you come when Sean and I cried last night?’"

"We were puzzled, did she mean when they were having their bath? we asked them, or just after they’d gone to bed? Children often get a bit fractious around bedtime, though I had no recollection of any tears from either Madeleine or Sean before they settled the previous evening. It certainly hadn’t been in the early hours, because I’d been in the room with them, even closer than usual."

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She continued to explain that she had asked Madeleine what she meant, adding: "Madeleine didn’t answer or elaborate, instead she moved on to some other topic that had popped into her head, apparently unconcerned… Not for a moment did we think there might be some sinister reason for this occurrence if indeed anything had occurred. If only foresight came as easily to us as hindsight. Within hours, the explanation for this would seem hugely important and so haunted have I been ever since by Madeleine’s words that morning."

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Kate admitted that she has since wondered if there had been an attempted break-in the night before that Madeleine was alluding to.

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She also wrote in the memoir that she was shocked to discover that a member of staff at the tapas restaurant that they had been dining at when Madeleine went missing had written into the eatery's diary that the McCanns table had a special request to be seated near to the apartments as they would be intermittently checking on their children. The book would have been available to read by any member of staff or guest at the hotel.

She wrote: "The receptionist had added the reason for our request: we wanted to eat close to our apartments as we were leaving our young children alone there and checking on them intermittently. We now bitterly regret it and will do so until the end of our days."

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It has been 17 years since Madeleine went missing from her room in Praia de Luz, Portugal in 2007, when she was aged just three. Despite a worldwide search for the little girl, she has never been found. German authorities are currently investigating their prime suspect in the abduction, Christian Brueckner, who is currently serving a prison sentence for rape. The convict has denied all allegations.