Even though Portuguese authorities on Monday closed the investigation on Madeleine McCann, the young girl who has been missing for 14 months, her parents said they “will never give up” on their daughter.

Kate and Gerry McCann are no longer formal suspects in the case, due to lack of evidence, authorities said. But this was no reason for celebration for the couple, who said their priority “has always been the search.” They declared they looked forward to getting access to the police files, which they hoped would be released to them to allow them continue the search for Madeleine.

“We look forward to scrutinizing the police files to see what has actually been done and more importantly what can still be done as we leave no stone unturned in the search for our little girl,” Kate McCann said, reading from a joint statement.

In the statement, the McCanns also talked about the effect the suspect status had on them during the investigation.

“It is hard to describe how utterly despairing it was to be named arguidos and subsequently portrayed in the media as suspects in our own daughter's abduction.”

They also complained about the “detrimental effect” this status also had on the search for their daughter, but they refused to confirm whether they would take legal actions against the Portuguese authorities.

The arguido (suspect) status was also lifted from Robert Murat, the British property developer who had been also named suspect in the case. He said he was relieved to hear the decision, but he also expressed his regret for the fact that “there is still a child missing, which is very sad.”