Madeleine McCann's parents set to fund their own search
Scotland Yard recently announced it is to scale down its Operation Grange investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance
By Martin Evans, Crime Correspondent
20 Dec 2015
Madeleine McCann’s parents are poised to launch a new privately funded search for their daughter after it was announced that the Scotland Yard operation was to be scaled down.
Kate and Gerry McCann are understood to have approved a fresh initiative using some of the £750,000 that remains in their appeal fund.
It is understood that plans are now under way to use the remainder of the ‘No Stone Unturned’ fund to hire private detectives to investigate new leads and unanswered questions.
The fund was also boosted by royalties from Kate’s book, Madeleine, and the couple have reiterated their determination to continue with the search.
In October Scotland Yard announced it was scaling down, Operation Grange, the Metropolitan Police investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.
Kate McCann says she will never give up searching for her daughter Madeleine
The No Stone Unturned fund will pay for a fresh probe Photo: Andrew Crowley
The inquiry, which was launched in 2011, and has cost more than £10 million, will continue but will have the number of full time officers working on the case reduced from 29 to just four.
Detectives have taken more than 1,300 statements and have collected over a thousand exhibits, but a spokesman for Scotland Yard said while there remained some lines of inquiry to follow, the vast majority of Operation Grange’s work had been completed.
Earlier this year the Home Office, which has been funding the police investigation, granted another £2 million to allow the work to continue.
Madeleine McCann from a family video
Madeleine's parents have vowed to never stop searching for their daughter
A source close to the McCanns told the Sunday People that the couple were ready to fund any private detective work from the remainder of the fund.
The source said: “There is £750,000 in the account. That money has been preserved because Kate and Gerry knew they may want to reopen an investigation at some point.
Madeleine McCann as she might look aged 9
A computer generated image of how Madeleine might now look Photo: Teri Blythe
“They have always said they’ll do anything they can to keep going. That commitment remains.”
Madeleine McCann disappeared from her parents’ holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday.
Operation Grange, the Scotland Yard investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, is to be scaled down
Since then her parents have campaigned tirelessly for the search to continue.
Operation Grange was launched after the Portuguese authorities shelved their probe into her disappearance and the family was forced to coordinate and fund their own investigation.
Following the announcement that Scotland Yard’s role was being significantly scaled back, the couple said they felt reassured that significant progress had been made and that they had a clearer picture of the events that led up to their daughter’s abduction.
The couple added: “Whilst we do not know what happened to Madeleine, we remain hopeful that she may still be found given the ongoing lines of inquiry.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madeleinemccann/12060510/Madeleine-McCanns-parents-set-to-fund-their-own-search.html
