The parents of Madeleine McCann have posted a message of ‘hope’ after they were granted a further £150,000 to inject into the hunt for their missing daughter.
The move has prompted an angry backlash from the parents of other missing children who haven’t received the same financial support from Scotland Yard.
The funding will keep Operation Grange going until March 2019, a full 12 years since Madeleine, three at the time, went missing from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.
The funding will keep Operation Grange going until March 2019, a full 12 years since Madeleine, three at the time, went missing from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal
The message, posted on the Find Maddie Campaign website, updated its cover photo with a picture of the word ‘hope’.
It was accompanied by a brief note to supporters which said: ‘We just want to thank you for continuing to be by our side and keeping Madeleine in your heart.’
The site is run by a family friend but endorsed by Kate and Gerry McCann.
Force bosses have been applying for funds every six months to continue the inquiry that has cost £11.75million so far.
One devastated parent Paul Whinham, 69, from Wallsend in North Tyneside, has been searching for his 31-year-old son Michael for three years.
Speaking to The Sun today he said: ‘After a six month investigation the Chief Inspector of Northumbria Police told me “I’m sorry Paul there’s no more money to keep on going, the case is closed but if you want to declare your son dead it takes six years”.
Dave Edgar was hired by Kate and Gerry McCann to look into their daughter’s disappearance and worked on the case for three years
‘They gave me all the options, I’m not knocking them. They said “we can only do what we can”, which is fair enough, they’re not magicians. I agree with that.
‘If any new evidence comes to light, if there’s any more sightings or anything, I was told to get in touch with them.’
The Yard had applied for renewed funding in September but the Home Office has declined to say until today if it had been approved – leaving Maddie’s desperate parents on tenterhooks for weeks.
A spokesperson said: ‘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. This is an ongoing police investigation.’
Three-year-old Maddie vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz in May 2007.
She had been left alone sleeping with her younger twin siblings while her parents were dining with pals in a nearby tapas restaurant.
Former GP turned medical worker Kate and heart doctor Gerry, both 50, of Rothley, Leicestershire, cling onto a glimmer of hope that Maddie could still be alive after more than 11 years.
Dave Edgar (left) remains ‘hopeful’ that Madeleine McCann will be found alive in Portugal
She would be aged 15. Detectives have refused to discuss details of the ‘important final line of inquiry’ they are pursuing.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘We cannot give a running commentary on the investigation while it is ongoing.’
The inquiry, launched in May 2011 and now headed by Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall, still has ‘important work to do and focused lines of investigation to be pursued, a force spokesman said:.
‘The inquiry has not reached a conclusion and we’re continuing with focus and determination. There are no immediate plans to reduce officer numbers further at this time.’
Mr Mitchell said: ‘Kate and Gerry appreciate everything the authorities have done and are doing to get a resolution after all this time. It gives them hope that one day they may finally find out what happened to their daughter.’
Ex police chiefs and some members of public have slammed the Maddie inquiry as a waste of public money and officers’ time despite it being drastically scaled down over the past few years.
The McCanns have around £4million saved in a public fund to help find their daughter. But they fear this could be swallowed up in legal fees and a potential libel payout to former Portuguese officer Gonçalo Amaral in their ongoing and bitter court battle.
There is a healthy balance of nearly £750,000 sitting in the Find Maddie Fund. The stash of cash – made up mainly of public donations and profits from Kate’s bestseller book – has grown over the past financial year, according to the latest accounts.
Last month a former detective has revealed he remains ‘hopeful’ that Madeleine McCann will be found alive in Portugal, where she went missing in 2007.
Former Detective Inspector Dave Edgar was hired by Kate and Gerry McCann to look into their daughter’s disappearance and worked on the case for three years before it was taken over by the Met Police in 2011.
Mr Edgar believes the case is ‘solvable’ and maintains there are ‘people out there who know what happened’.