Hawke's Bay Today; says: 'A decade ago Scotsman Gerry McCann, whose four-year-old daughter was abducted in Portugal nine days ago during a family holiday, was living in Napier and playing football. His former clubmates have been left stunned by what has happened to the McCann family.Hopes and prayers for the return of kidnapped British four-year-old Madeleine McCann are coming from half a world away, as local friends of her father, Gerry, anxiously wait for news of her fate.
The story has dominated news coverage in Europe as famous footballers and her distressed parents plead for whoever took Madeleine to return her unharmed.
Mr McCann lived in Napier for about a year in 1996, turning out for Napier City Rovers. The "down-to-earth, natural, great guy" made several close friends, including Rovers stalwarts Ian Gearey and Jim Scott, who both attended his wedding to Kate McCann eight years ago.
Mr Gearey said he was shocked to learn Gerry's girl had been taken. "I am absolutely gobsmacked. I was just stunned. I heard it from Jim, who had picked up a Sunday paper and it was there." The pair's romance had flourished after Mr McCann followed his future wife to New Zealand, Mr Gearey said. "Kate was working as a doctor in Wellington. He told us he'd come for her, he came to woo her, really. He won her heart and, of course they got together here, and not that terribly long after they got married in the UK."
The wedding in Liverpool was lovely and big, said Mr Gearey. They hadn't spoken for some time but the McCanns kept in contact with their Hawke's Bay buddies, most recently sending a family Christmas card wishing them well.
Mr Gearey had tried to contact them since Madeleine's disappearance, to let the frantic family know their Kiwi mates were there for support. Mr McCann was a "very, very" talented surgeon who was very well regarded and worked in Hawke's Bay while he was here, Mr Gearey said. Mrs McCann is a GP while her husband is a heart specialist. "He is just a very nice guy. Both of them are lovely people."
Now Mr Gearey is wishing for a happy ending for his former clubmate.
