END OF MADDIE HUNT? Madeleine McCann’s parents face less than two months of guaranteed funding for British cops to find their daughter


Kate and Gerry McCann are anxiously waiting to find out if Operation Grange will receive more funding

By Tracey Kandohla


8th August 2017, 11:10 pm
Updated: 9th August 2017, 7:00 am

THE PARENTS of Madeleine McCann have thanked the public “for continuing to be by our side” as they face less than two months of guaranteed funding for British cops to find their daughter.

A post today on the official Find Maddie campaign website, endorsed by Kate and Gerry and viewed by thousands of followers across the world, states: “Thank you for continuing to be by our side and supporting us in our search for Madeleine. We are extremely grateful.”

The message is accompanied by a simple verse on a sky-blue backdrop: “Ah, kindness. What a simple way to tell another struggling soul that there is love to be found in this world.”

Maddie’s parents are anxiously waiting to find out if Operation Grange, the £12million inquiry into their daughter’s disappearance, will be extended with a new cash boost in October.

Scotland Yard announced a month ago their “investigation is continuing with focus and determination” but as yet no new significant clues have been unearthed.

As time could be running out for police to solve the case, the family still cling onto a glimmer of hope that Maddie could be found alive after vanishing from a Portuguese holiday apartment 10 years and three months ago.

And as a gesture to Madeleine’s memory, they keep a candle burning round the clock for her in their home village of Rothley, Leics.

The lantern beside the black railings surrounding the war memorial in the heart of the village at Cross Green is synonymous with the lost girl.

Maddie’s great uncle Brian Kennedy told The Sun Online how the lantern – which has been in situ ever since the three-year-old was snatched from Praia da Luz in May 2007 – had undergone “a big clean up.”

Ex head teacher Brian, who also lives in Rothley and with wife Janet looks after the special tribute, said: “The lantern was taken away because it became very sooty and needed a big clean up which we have now done.”

As the sparkling lantern, with candle constantly lit and glimmering inside, returned to its designated spot after being gone for a few weeks, a McCann pal said: “The candle is a constant reminder for locals that one of their young fellow villagers is still missing and out there somewhere to hopefully be found alive and well.”

Maddie disappeared from The Algarve holiday flat while her parents were dining with pals in a nearby tapas restaurant. She had been left alone sleeping with her younger twin siblings Sean and Amelie, now aged 12.

World renowned heart doctor Gerry and medical worker Kate, a former GP, both 49, refuse to give up hope and have vowed to “leave no stone unturned” in the painstaking search for their eldest child.

Their daughter would now be aged 14 and would be preparing for the new and important secondary school Year 10 when GCSE courses begin. She would be a pupil at the prestigious Catholic School in Loughborough where her great uncle once presided over.

Met Police have less than eight weeks of Home Office funding left to try and crack the world’s biggest ever child disappearances.

They must submit an application if they need further funds during the second half the current financial year which will then be considered but not guaranteed by special grants committee.

Officers were given an extra £85,000 in April to extend Op Grange until the end of September amid speculation detectives were closing in on a suspect.

A force spokesman previously told The Sun Online: “A lot of potentially significant images and material were captured on previous trips to Portugal and we are still working on all leads.”

It came as the Yard’s Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said they were still “critical leads” to pursue.

Speaking to mark the milestone 10th anniversary in May of Maddie’s disappearance, the top cop said there were “significant investigative avenues” that are of “great interest” to both the UK and Portuguese teams.

He said: “We want to solve it, we want a breakthrough, adding “there is no definite evidence” proving Madeleine is alive or dead.

Maddie’s parents Kate and Gerry are said to be “buoyed up” and “extremely grateful” by the Met’s continuing efforts to find their daughter.

In their latest anniversary message to mark “a decade of pain” the McCann’s said:““Thankfully there is an active police investigation to try and find Madeleine and bring her abductor to justice.”

A source close to the couple said: “It is heartbreaking for Kate and Gerry to still not know after a decade what happened to Madeleine. But to know there is still an active police investigation doing their very best to help find her gives them a strength and comfort.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4201196/madeleine-mccanns-parents-thank-supporters-for-continuing-to-be-on-our-side-as-they-wait-to-see-if-investigation-will-get-cash-boost/