The authors of a book about Madeleine McCann's disappearance claim her father Gerry had a "visionary moment" that changed his opinion on what happened.
Maddy was three years old when she went missing from the family's Portugal hotel room on May 3, 2007, while parents Kate and Gerry were having dinner with friends in a nearby restaurant.
Controversial Netflix documentary The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, features interviews with authors Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan, whose book Looking For Madeleine was a bestseller.
In the book, they claim Gerry's outlook on the case was transformed by something he experienced one day.
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An excerpt published by the Express reads: "It was a visionary moment that transformed Gerry’s stance on the crisis.
"While the couple were praying at the local church, he would recall: 'I started thinking how I was feeling really very down and not sure which way to proceed.
"'I had this mental image of being in a tunnel, and instead of the light at the end of the tunnel being an extremely narrow and a distant spot, the light opened up and the tunnel got wider.
"'It was almost like something – and I am not saying it was the Holy Spirit – came into me and gave me that image'."
The book states that the moment changed Gerry's approach to his daughter's disappearance.
He added: "I can’t say it was a vision because I am not clear what a vision is," the book continues.
"But I had a mental image and it certainly helped me decide.
"I became a man possessed that night and the next day I was up at dawn making phone calls."
Gerry's story about seeing his 'vision' were originally published in Catholic magazine The Tablet following an interview with the McCanns.
Kate and Gerry refused to be part of the Netflix documentary, saying that it could hurt the investigation.
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A statement released on behalf of the couple said: "We did not see – and still do not see – how this programme will help the search for Madeleine and, particularly given there is an active police investigation, it could potentially hinder it.
"Consequently, our views and preferences are not reflected in the programme.
"We will not be making any further statements or giving interviews regarding this programme."
