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Madeleine McCann's father returns to work

  • Story Highlights
  • Father of Madeleine McCann returns to job as cardiologist in central England
  • Four-year-old Madeleine disappeared from Portuguese holiday resort in May
  • McCann said he'd done everything to find daughter; now relying on campaign
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The father of Madeleine McCann has returned to his job as a cardiologist in central England, nearly six months after he stopped work to conduct a massive and public search for his missing daughter.

Gerry McCann said he had done everything he could do personally to find his 4-year-old daughter and that he would now be relying on the search campaign to continue the effort.

"We've got an infrastructure and support system behind us now, and to be honest, unless Madeleine's found we're not expecting any significant developments in the near future," McCann told reporters outside Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, about 170 kilometers (100 miles) north of London.

The McCann family has a Web site and fund to aid the search and support the family financially.

Madeleine went missing while the family was on vacation in Portugal in May, days before her 4th birthday. Her parents have said she disappeared from their hotel room at a Praia da Luz resort while they dined in a nearby restaurant.

Despite a search stretching around the world and the attention of celebrities like Virgin Chairman Richard Branson, author J.K. Rowling, and soccer star David Beckham, there have been no major breaks in the case.

McCann said it was the right time to return to work.

"We very much wanted to get back to a degree of normality, and me going back into my normal employment is very much part of that," he said.

McCann said he would ease back into his duties as a consultant cardiologist, starting off with academic work and MRI and CT scanning before increasing his workload.

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"I'm confident that I'll be getting on very well and focused on my job," he said.

Doug Skehan, the clinical director at the hospital, said he was also confident McCann could focus on his work and that he supported his decision to return.

Madeleine's mother, Kate McCann, is also a doctor in the Leicester area but does not plan to return to work, family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said. He said Kate McCann wants to focus on finding Madeleine and bringing up the couple's other two children.

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Saturday marks six months since Madeleine disappeared. In a blog entry written this week on the Find Madeleine Web site, McCann wrote that it was a hard time for the family, and that they would mark the day with a prayer service at their local church.

Portuguese police named Madeleine's parents suspects in September, but the parents deny having anything to do with their daughter's disappearance, shrugging off claims that DNA evidence could implicate them. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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