Cops given extra £85k to probe new key suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance a decade ago
COPS probing the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have been given extra funding as they chase a specific person to interview, it emerged last night.
Detectives have identified an individual they want to question which will take the investigation past its tenth anniversary.
The person was near the area where Madeleine went missing from in the coastal resort of Praia da Luz, Portugal in May 2007.
The person could be a Portuguese suspect.
Funding had been due to end within weeks but the Home Office has given an extra £85,000 to extend the Operation Grange hunt to September this year.
Senior officers see the development as the “last throw of the dice” as total funding has now reached now £11.1 million, it emerged last night.
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Policing Minister Brandon Lewis last night said: “I am pleased to be able to support the British police who are trying to get to the bottom of what happened to Madeleine McCann and give some kind of closure and justice to her family.”
A Home Office spokesman added: “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 before any new funding is allocated."
Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry remain incredibly grateful to the Home Office and the Met Police for the continued work into the search for their daughter.
"But, like the police, they will not be commenting on any operational details."
Kate and Gerry McCann have also poured almost half a million pounds into a string of investments as the search for their daughter Madeleine nears a decade.
The couple have reportedly made the investments to top up the Find Madeleine Fund.
that the fund had total assets of £714,000 – taking into account the invested $490,839.
The fund reportedly took a hit recently after the family lost a battle with police chief Goncalo Amaral, who claimed that the couple faked their daughter’s abduction.
It was feared the huge legal bill could wipe out search funds for the little girl, despite the family slamming the former cop’s allegations as “untruthful and malicious”.
Supreme Court judges in Portugal met to resolve the couple’s fight against a lower court’s decision in April last year to reverse their 2015 libel win against the former detective.
Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007, when her family, from Leicestershire, were holidaying in the Algarve.
Parents Gerry and Kate left their three children – including toddler twins Sean and Amelie – sleeping in their apartment while they dined at a nearby tapas bar.
When Kate returned to check on the kids at around 10pm that evening she discovered that Maddie was not in her bed and was missing.
Since then, the couple have worked to find their daughter, slamming claims that they plan to make money from her disappearance.
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