The parents of Madeleine McCann, a British toddler who went missing in the Algarve last week, said tonight they are still hoping for the safe return of their little girl six days after she was last seen.
Gerry and Kate McCann said in a short statement: "We continue to remain positive."
The couple, who have repeatedly faced the cameras since the three-year-old's disappearance last Thursday night, did not appear in person but the statement was read by Mark Warner representative Alex Woolfall.
The couple said their emotions and efforts were focused on the steps being taken to find her and thanked those involved in the search.
The couple's message said: "We are grateful to all of those currently taking part in the search for our daughter Madeleine.
The couple had been dining nearby last Thursday evening, making regular checks on Madeleine and her younger twin siblings Sean and Amelie.
When they returned to their apartment in the Mark Warner complex in Praia Da Luz, on the Algarve, they found she was missing.
Hundreds of Portuguese people and holidaymakers have taken part in searches and police have followed up 350 possible leads but there remains no news of Madeleine's whereabouts.
Police have been passed a CCTV tape from a service station just a few miles from where Madeleine was abducted, showing a woman with a girl fitting her description who raised staff suspicions.
The woman was said to be urging the girl to say "thank you" to staff but had appeared reluctant, apparently wanting to say something.
The Galp service station is the first stop on the N22 motorway, which cuts across the Algarve towards Spain, which is less than an hour away.
Portuguese police are said to focusing their search on the possibility that Madeleine was abducted by an organised paedophile network.
But the investigative Policia Judiciaria (PJ) have not commented publicly, hinting only that they have narrowed down their hypotheses.
PA