Madeleine McCann's parents, Kate and Gerry say they "await a breakthrough" as they mark the 16th year of their daughter's disappearance.
During a post on the 'Official Find Madeleine Campaign' Facebook page, the determined parents wrote: "Still missing...still very much missed.
"It is hard to find the words to convey how we feel", followed by a poem by Clare Polland, 'The Contradiction', saying it "resonates strongly with us".
READ MORE: Livid parents slapped with £480 fine for taking kids on holiday during term time
The touching poem reads: "You are not here, I’m not myself, but still I talk to you like this.
And continues: "I cannot hold you, yet I do: please let me hold you in my head and where you are now, hold me too."
They ended their tribute statement by saying: “The police investigation continues, and we await a breakthrough.
“Thank you to everyone for your support - it really helps.”
Kate and Gerry are to meet with friends and family tonight as they remember their daughter - with a prayer gathering due to take place in their home village at 7pm.
It is not known if Madeleine’s twin siblings Sean and Amelie, now aged 18, will attend the service.
Their older sister Madeleine was just three when she vanished from their holiday apartment in Praia Da Luz in Portugal, in May 2007.
The parents of Madeleine are still hoping their daughter, who would now be 19, will be found alive.
Her great uncle Brian Kennedy said ahead of tonight’s event: “Kate and Gerry always feel heartened by the attendance of well wishers.
“It is much appreciated that people still want to show such support.”
German paedophile Christian Brueckner, who was living in a farmhouse close to Praia da Luz in 2007, has been named as the prime suspect in her disappearance.
But the 45-year-old, who is serving a jail term in his home country for raping a pensioner in Praia da Luz, denies any involvement.
Last week, he had the rape allegations against him dropped by a German court.
The suspect has not been charged in the McCann case, in which he is under investigation on suspicion of murder.
An investigation began in Germany after prosecutors there discovered "concrete evidence" of her death.
Brueckner had been charged with several sexual offences that occurred close to where Madeleine was holidaying with her family before she vanished.
Prosecutors in the northern city of Braunschweig in October charged Bruckner in several separate cases involving sexual offences allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
READ MORE:
Glasgow's Savoy nightclub in £500k refurbishment as iconic 'sticky carpet' ripped up
Tributes paid to 'legendary' Celtic fan who drove from Glasgow to Lisbon for 1967 cup final
Glasgow cake shop owner loses seven stone and 'changes her life'
Fire breaks out in Coatbridge high-rise as six crews sent to tackle blaze
