London - Prayers were said and candles lit Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in what her parents said was the "last chance" to gain new information on her fate. Kate and Gerry McCann attended a private church service in their home town in Britain Saturday, ahead of services across Britain and in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, where Madeleine disappeared on the evening of May 3, last year.
"This is a last chance to capture a lot of information...We are a year down the line and seemingly no closer to finding Madeleine. We have got little bits of jigsaw but huge gaps," said Gerry McCann on the eve of the anniversary.
Later Saturday evening, to mark the exact hour at which Madeleine vanished from her bed, while her parents were eating in a nearby Tapas bar, prayers will be said and candles lit by supporters worldwide.
A service will also be held in the small white-washed church of the Algarve resort, which, however, remained "strangely quiet" Saturday, according to a BBC reporter.
Local residents have been angered by the huge publicity campaign launched by the McCann's in the wake of Madeleine's disappearance which they said placed a "negative spotlight" on the resort.
The McCann's, who have been named suspects in the case by Portuguese police, said they had decided against returning to Portugal for the anniversary on "lawyers' advice."
Relatives of the family will, however, visit the town to mark the anniversary.
Robert Murat, an expatriate Briton who has also been named a suspect, left Praia da Luz to avoid media attraction, reports said.
"The anniversary is not about us, the McCann's, the Portuguese police or anything else, but a little girl going missing," he told a British TV programme on the even of the anniversary.
Meanwhile, chief investigator Alipio Ribeiro, the national director of the Policia Judiciaria (PJ), said Saturday that police were still gathering evidence in the case.
Officials had not decided whether to bring charges or drop the investigation, he told Portugal's news agency Lusa.
"At this stage nothing has been determined regarding possible charges or closing the case. The PJ continues to gather and analyse all available evidence," he said.
The McCann's, who say they are certain that Madeleine was abducted, have signalled their readiness to take part in a police reconstruction of the case, but refused to return to Portugal as long as their status as suspects is upheld.
Emerging from the church service in their home town of Rothley, in northern Britain, they described the support and comfort they had received from well-wishers as "uplifting."
Prayers had been said "not just for Madeleine but for missing children all over the world," they said.
