Kate McCann reveals heartbreaking question Madeleine asked her on the morning of her disappearance

Kate McCann once revealed the heartbreaking question Madeleine McCann asked her on the morning of her disappearance, as she admitted to being 'haunted' looking back.

It has now been 18 years since the three-year-old went missing while holidaying with her family in Portugal back in 2007. Madeleine was sleeping in her Praia da Luz hotel apartment alongside her younger twin siblings, Sean and Amelie, while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, enjoyed a dinner at the Ocean Club restaurant on the night she vanished.

The restaurant they visited was around 100 yards from the bedroom.

Only when returning to the two-bedroom apartment at around 10.00pm did Madeleine's mum discover the youngster was missing.

In one update in the case is that hard drive has been uncovered at a disused factory bought by the prime suspect in the investigation - German national Christian Brueckner - which reportedly 'contains evidence she is dead'.

German prosecutors believe Brueckner killed the three-year-old after she vanished during the family holiday.

The Sun claims that the hard drive was found at a disused factory, owned by Brueckner, which 'contains evidence she is dead'. The claims aired in full in Channel 4 documentary Madeleine McCann: The Unseen Evidence which aired on Wednesday (7 May).

Back in 2011, Kate wrote a book titled Madeleine: Our Daughter's Disappearance and the Continuing Search for Her which detailed the family's torment.

In that book, Kate recalled a conversation she had with Madeleine on the day of her disappearance which 'haunted' her.

She wrote: "On Thursday, May 3 I awoke in the children’s bedroom. I can’t remember who was up first but I know we had all surfaced by about 7.30am.

"At breakfast time, Madeleine had a question for us – 'why didn’t you come when Sean and I cried last night?'"

Madeleine McCann disappeared aged three during a family holiday in Portugal back in 2007 (PA)

She continued: "We were puzzled, did she mean when they were having their bath? we asked them, or just after they’d gone to bed?

"Children often get a bit fractious around bedtime, though I had no recollection of any tears from either Madeleine or Sean before they settled the previous evening.

"It certainly hadn’t been in the early hours, because I’d been in the room with them, even closer than usual."

On reflection, this led to Kate worrying there had been an attempted break-in the night before Madeleine went missing.

Kate McCann previously opened up about the heartbreaking question her daughter asked her the morning of her disappearance (WPA Pool / Pool / Getty Images)

She added: "Madeleine didn’t answer or elaborate, instead she moved on to some other topic that had popped into her head, apparently unconcerned."

She continued: "Not for a moment did we think there might be some sinister reason for this occurrence if indeed anything had occurred.

"If only foresight came as easily to us as hindsight. Within hours, the explanation for this would seem hugely important and so haunted have I been ever since by Madeleine’s words that morning."