Madeleine McCann Investigation Awarded Another £150,000
The Home Office has confirmed that the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will be receiving another financial boost with an extra £150,000 (nearly $200,000).
As reported by the BBC, the new funding will allow the investigation to continue up until the end of March in 2019. So far, a total of around £11.75 million (approximately $15 million) has been spent on the search, nicknamed Operation Grange.
Madeleine famously disappeared from her bed in her parents’ holiday apartment at the Praia da Luz resort in Portugal in early May 2007, while her parents were having dinner nearby. The preliminary investigation was handled by Portuguese authorities, but after their search came up empty in 2011, Scotland Yard took over.
In May last year, when the 10th anniversary of her disappearance rolled around, police disclosed that approximately 40,000 documents have been reviewed as part of the case, and over 600 people have been individually investigated. Met Police also conducted a search at the resort in 2014.
Additional funding has repeatedly been made available to keep the investigation open and was due to run out again in September this year. Earlier in the year, the Metropolitan Police Service submitted a request to the Home Office to extend the funding in order to allow the investigation to continue for another six months.
Madeleine McCann detectives granted more funding until March as extra £150k puts Operation Grange costs at nearly £12m https://t.co/fugGPwe6rS pic.twitter.com/7XzdtdwiHv
— Nick Hudson (@DuncanDanley) November 14, 2018
The request to the Home Office has been confirmed as successful, with a spokesperson for the government branch making a statement about the decision.
“We have confirmed that Special Grant funding of £150,000 will be provided to the Metropolitan Police Service for the six-month period to 31 March 2019.”
Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, both 50, vowed never to stop looking for their daughter after her disappearance and have regularly come forward to request that the investigation continue to be funded until she is found. On the 11th anniversary of her disappearance, they posted on a Facebook page set up to help find Madeleine, per Unilad.
“It gets harder 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 she is still dearly missed. Information continues to come in (incredible as it may seem after so long, although we are grateful for that) and work goes on. Perseverance and hope remain. Thank you to everyone who continues to support us and wish us, especially Madeleine, well.”
Madeleine was just days away from her fourth birthday when she went missing. She would be 15-years-old now.
