The parents of Madeleine McCann are hoping that a New Year “miracle” will reunite them with their daughter as they approach the milestone 10th anniversary without her.

Kate and Gerry have never given up hope that Maddie could still be alive and have started 2017 with renewed spirit and vigour.

A Facebook campaign promoting the hunt for their daughter, which they endorse, says in a new posting: “We still have great hope and believe in miracles. Thank you for continuing to be by our side. Let’s get her home.”

Hope: Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured) have never given up hope that Maddie is alive

Poster: This poster is from the official Facebook page to find Madeleine McCann and shows a picture of the missing girl using age progression

Lost: Madeleine McCann disappeared in May 2007 from a holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal,

As Scotland Yard are busy investigating one “last throw of the dice” lead in a bid to end the family’s torment, a close friend said today: “Despite yet another Christmas without Madeleine which was very difficult, Kate and Gerry have entered the New Year with a positive and upbeat frame of mind. They are confident the Metropolitan Police will give them the answers they are desperately seeking.”

Detectives now have less than three months of guaranteed Government funding to continue to unravel an “important” new tip.

A source close to the investigation, codenamed Operation Grange, revealed last month that they are working on a final theory that Maddie was kidnapped by a European trafficking gang.

The “spotters” are believed to have targeted the eye-catching charismatic three-year-old, tak-ing photographs of her, while she was playing on the beach and beside the pool at her family holiday apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz in May 2007.

Maddie, who has a distinct and un-operable blemish in her right eye where the pupil runs into the iris, would now be aged 13.

Her last age progression picture clearly shows the eye defect but portrays her as a nine-year-old.

Aged: Maddie, would now be aged 13, (her parents are pictured in 2013 with how she'd look)

Former GP Kate and heart doctor Gerry, both 48, posted in a worldwide Christmas message, free for their daughter’s kidnapper and their friends and family to see: “Somebody knows. We just hope they find the courage and compassion to let us know too.”

The brave couple from Rothley, Leicestershire , wrote on the official Find Maddie website, that support from others will “keep us strong and afloat during the difficult months to come.”

Detectives have explored dozens of theories about Maddie’s disappearance from being snatched by paedophiles and murdered during a botched burglary to being accidentally killed by her parents.

Despite nearly 9,000 potential sightings across the globe police have struggled to unearth any new clues.

But in Operation Grange’s potentially final year of searching they are concentrating solely on the fact she was sold by child traffickers – her parents’ and their first team of private investigators’ initial hunch – and could still be alive.

Reports following her kidnap suggested she could have been smuggled to Belgium or Morocco in North Africa.

Forensic investigations into Maddie’s disappearance just nine days before her fourth birthday were concluded five months ago.

Detectives have explored dozens of theories about Maddie’s (pictured) disappearance

So far the inquiry, launched in May 2011 on orders of then Prime Minister David Cameron, has cost more than £12 million with topped-up funds set to run out at the end of March.

A Scotland Yard spokesperson said today: “We are not prepared to discuss any lines of inquiry while the investigation is on going. If there is a development we will put it in the public do-main.” He added: “We have funding in place until the end of this financial year.”

The McCanns tried to make Christmas – their tenth without Maddie - “as happy a family occa-sion as possible” for the sake of their twins Sean and Amelie, who turn 12 in just one month. They thanked in an online message everyone “who hasn’t forgotten about Madeleine for their help and continued prayers.”

Earlier last month they suspended a Facebook campaign page helping the hunt for Maddie af-ter a surge of false “leads” has flooded the website. Trolls had been bombarding the site with fake theories.

A message from the un-named Leicester-based Webmaster, acting with the approval of Kate and Gerry, said: “Some of you may have noticed our page not being available these past few days. Due to an increase of fabricated so called “leads”, I’ve been turning the page off to keep people from posting/spreading false information.

“It’s imperative the public keep looking for Madeleine, but we need to make sure false infor-mation is not being given over true leads. This is my decision. I will continue to turn the page off until this false and misleading info is not being disseminated via Facebook and emailed to us.”

We still have great hope and believe in miracles. Thank you for continuing to be by our side. Let’s get her home Kate and Gerry McCann

The webs chief urges people across the world to continue helping the search, saying: “Thank you to those who truly want to help us find Madeleine. Children are found due to the diligence of the public and we still need your help.”

But she demands people not “to report fake news” even by re-posting it. She warns: “You have the potential to hurt innocent people by posting false news stories.

This is a support page for Madeleine and her family. It’s not a place for you to post false news stories or conspiracy theo-ries.

“We will not comment on investigation-related questions/suggestions due to an active police investigation.

Anyone posting false news stories or conspiracy theories will have their post deleted and be banned from our page.”

But in a fresh start to 2017 the page is open to promote the hunt for the missing girl and shows a montage of poignant photos of Maddie simply entitled “Have you seen me?”

Pictures include the iconic last known image of Maddie in pink sunhat and clutching tennis balls while on holiday and an age progression snap of how she may look aged nine.