S. Africa: Parents reunited with kidnapped daughter reached out to Madeleine McCann's parents

FILE - In this Friday March 6, 2015 file photo, Morne Nurse, center, the father of a girl that was kidnapped as a baby 17 years ago, and his wife Celeste Nurse, left, arrive at court for the appearance of a woman suspected of the kidnapping in Cape Town, South Africa. Morne Nurse, who was reunited with his kidnapped daughter after 17 years said on Tuesday March 10, 2015, that he would like to talk to Madeleine McCann's parents. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam, File) (The Associated Press)

The biological father of a South African girl found 17 years after she was kidnapped, said he tried to contact Madeleine McCann's parents, never giving up hope.

Morne Nurse, who was reunited with his eldest daughter last month, said on Tuesday that he researched the case of the British toddler kidnapped in Portugal in 2007. His message to McCann's parents was they would know if their daughter was still alive.

During a press conference shown on state broadcaster SABC, Morne and his wife Celeste said their daughter now called them "Mummy" and "Daddy." The girl, not named because she is a minor, was taken from her mother's bedside in a Cape Town hospital in 1997, at just three days old.

A woman is on trial for the alleged kidnapping.