TRIGGERING reward offers in the millions, prayer vigils and appeals at sports events, a little girl's suspected abduction during a family holiday in Portugal has galvanised Britons into action.
Since four-year-old Madeleine McCann went missing on May 3 from her hotel room in the Algarve, her relatives have led a campaign that is drawing growing support from friends, ordinary Britons and celebrities.
"It's becoming something that is almost turning into a national phenomenon," British commentator Matthew D'Ancona said on BBC television.
Stuart Kuttner, managing editor of News of the World and a leading force in efforts to offer money for information leading to her return, said the girl's disappearance had touched a national nerve.
"I think the whole country ... is traumatised by this appalling event, and the support is immense," Kuttner said on Sky News television.
The newspaper and wealthy Britons like Harry Potter author JK Rowling and Virgin business tycoon Sir Richard Branson have offered a total of £2.5 million ($6 million) in rewards.
Other Britons have played smaller roles.
Members of the public have also been helping relatives of her parents Kate and Gerry in Scotland, England and Ireland to email photographs of the wide-eyed, blonde-haired girl to other countries so it can be widely displayed.
The International Family Law Group said it soon would be possible for members of the public to make their own donations.
Relatives said they feared that Maddie, as she is affectionately known, might no longer be in Portugal, but could have been taken through neighbouring Spain to some other country where the case has not received much publicity.
The campaign in Britain complements one in Portugal where a vigil has been held and where motorcyclists have driven around the country displaying posters of the girl.
And football is proving to be a unifying force.
Some of the celebrities appealing for help are Portuguese nationals living in Britain, such as Chelsea football coach Jose Mourinho and star players in the English football league.
Former England football captain David Beckham, who also played for Spanish giants Real Madrid, made a televised appeal.
Beckham held up a missing person poster written in Spanish, bearing a picture of the girl, who would have celebrated her fourth birthday on Saturday.
Following the case in London are Prime Minister Tony Blair and his finance minister Gordon Brown, who is on track to succeed him at the end of June and who has been photographed wearing a yellow ribbon.
Others offering reward money are England football star Wayne Rooney and Bill Kenwright, the Everton football club chairman who saw pictures of Maddie wearing his club's shirt before they were released.
The Times newspaper reported that Scottish businessman Stephen Winyard, a father of three who lives in Monaco, offered a reward of £1 million ($2.4 million) for decisive information.
"One of the most important things is to keep the story alive, of course keep the reality alive, keep it in the forefront of peoples' minds," Kuttner said.
Philomena McCann, the girl's aunt who lives in Glasgow, Scotland, said on the BBC that people could help by distributing her niece's picture to different countries, by praying for her or contacting members of parliament.
She said more than 40,000 copies of the poster had been downloaded from one site.
