Madeleine McCann hunt to continue as police get more funds on 11th anniversary of disappearance

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/02/madeleine-mccann-hunt-continue-police-get-funds-11th-anniversary/

Madeleine McCann hunt to continue as police get more funds on 11th anniversary of disappearance


By Martin Evans
2 May 2018 • 11:16pm




Scotland Yard is to continue the hunt for Madeleine McCann, the Telegraph can reveal ahead of the 11th anniversary of her disappearance on Thursday.

The Home Office has granted the force an extra £154,000 in funding which will allow detectives to extend the investigation for another six months.

Operation Grange, which was launched by the Metropolitan Police in 2011, is still pursuing several lines of inquiry.

It's now 11 years since Madeleine's disappearance from her family's holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on May 3 2007.

Portuguese police shelved its own investigation in 2008, but after pressure from Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, Scotland Yard launched its own inquiry three years later.

Her parents said “hope and perseverance remain” on the anniversary of their daughter’s kidnap.

In a posting on the official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page they said: “It gets hard to know what to say or write as each anniversary of Madeleine’s abduction approaches then passes.

“Life is full and busy which helps but Madeleine is still missing and is dearly missed.”

Operation Grange initially had 29 full time officers working on it, who took almost 1,500 statements and collected over 1,000 exhibits.



The investigation has so far cost in excess of £11 million, but detectives remain committed to following up any remaining leads.


During Operation Grange detectives from the Met regularly travelled to the Algarve to liaise with their Portuguese counterparts and undertook a number of exploratory digs in the Praia da Luz area.

Police said they had also investigated more than 60 persons of interest. A total of 650 sex offenders have also been considered as well as reports of 8,685 potential sightings of Madeleine around the world.

In 2013 detectives working on Operation Grange announced they were looking into possible links between Madeleine’s disappearance and bogus charity collectors who were knocking on doors in Praia da Luz at the time.

They issued a series of photo-fit images of suspects they said may have been hanging around the Algarve around the time Madeleine disappeared.



Three years ago the inquiry was scaled back with the number of full time detectives reduced to just four, but funding has been granted every six months to keep the inquiry open.

Last year officers travelled to Bulgaria in an effort to track down a potential witness who they believed could have crucial information about the toddler's disappearance.

Details of the extra funding were revealed in a parliamentary written answer from Home Office minister, Baroness Williams of Trafford.

The answer stated: "Baroness Williams of Trafford: "An application from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) for further Special Grant funding for Operation Grange for 01 April – 30 September 2018 has been received.


"This is for an amount similar to the £154,000 granted for the period of 01 October 2017 – 31 March 2018. The MPS has been briefed that its latest application will be granted."