Rowling to Use Final 'Harry Potter' Book to Aid Worldwide Search for Missing Girl
LONDON – J.K. Rowling plans to spread posters of four-year-old Madeleine McCann across the world in the hope of helping to find the missing British girl.
The "Harry Potter" author has requested, with the assistance of her 65 international publishers, for posters of Madeleine to be posted in bookshops worldwide.
The posters will be available from July 21 – the same date as the highly-anticipated release of the final book in the "Harry Potter" series.
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The plan looks to renew hopes of finding Madeleine, who has been missing since May 3, when she was abducted from her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal.
Information will accompany pictures of the child, offering contact details to the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to see the missing girl's image as they queue to get their hands on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
Rowling said: "I fervently hope that posters displayed prominently in shops all over the world when the new book comes out will help find Madeleine McCann and will help raise the profile of the many other missing children in different countries."
The parents of Madeleine have expressed their delight at the support. Kate McCann said: "We are overjoyed by this generous offer and would like to thank J.K. Rowling, her publishers and book retailers for all they are doing to help.
"Madeleine has the first three Harry Potter books and first three DVDs. Like most other children the world over, she loves the stories."
Madeleine disappeared May 3 after her parents left her and her brother and sister, both aged 2, alone in their room while they went to a restaurant inside their hotel complex in Praia da Luz, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Lisbon and the police believe she was abducted.
Since then, the McCanns have launched an international campaign to find their daughter, enlisting the aid of celebrities including soccer star David Beckham and J.K. Rowling.
They also have traveled to Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Morocco to plead for help in finding Madeleine.
