Madeleine McCann hunt is kept going after Met detectives given £85,000
Parents of girl missing for nearly 10 years told one strand of investigation has yet to be concluded
THE parents of Madeleine McCann are “incredibly grateful” after the Home Office agreed to extend the police search for their daughter for six more months.
The Government will give another £85,000 to continue the Scotland Yard inquiry into the nearly decade-long mystery.
Police and the family refused to comment on latest reports that detectives want to trace one remaining suspect in the hope of explaining the three-yearold’s disappearance.
Last year, the then head of Scotland Yard suggested the long-running inquiry would be wound up in months.
Madeleine vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007 while her parents were dining with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant. She would now be aged nearly 14.
Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for her parents, said: “Kate and Gerry remain incredibly grateful to the Home Office and the Met Police for the con- tinued work into the search for their daughter.”
He added: “But, like the police, they will not be commenting on any operational details.”
The Home Office said the Metropolitan Police had applied for special funding and the money would keep the hunt – known as Operation Grange – running until September.
Portuguese police initially investigated the disappearance, but Scotland Yard set up its own inquiry in 2011 and Operation Grange has since cost £11.1 million.
A source close to the family, from Rothley, Leics, said: “They have never given up hope of finding out what happened to Madeleine, and still believe she could be alive. They appreciate everything the police are doing to get a resolution after all this time.”
The extra funding was approved by Theresa May, who met the McCanns several times as home secretary.
The number of detectives searching for Madeleine was cut from 29 to four in September 2015.
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the former Scotland Yard commissioner, said nearly a year ago that police had one more line of inquiry to close. He said: “There’s been a lot of investigation time spent on this terrible case. It’s a child who went missing, everybody wants to know if she is alive and if she is, where she is. And, sadly, if she’s dead, then we need to give some comfort to the family.
“There is a line of inquiry that remains to be concluded and it’s expected that in the coming months that will happen.”
Dozens of theories about Madeleine’s disappearance have been explored, including the possibilities she was abducted by a paedophile, killed during a bungled burglary, abducted by traffickers or killed in an accident when she wandered out of the apartment.
A Home Office spokesman said: “Following an application from the Metropolitan Police for special grant funding, the Home Office has confirmed £85,000 in operational costs for Operation Grange for the period April 1 until September 2017.
“As with all applications, the resources required are reviewed regularly and careful consideration is given.”