A decision on further funding for the police investigation is pending
Madeleine McCann’s parents have reportedly got a fund of more than £750,000 to pay for a private investigation if the police end their search for their daughter.
To date, the police investigation for Madeleine, who was three years old when she went missing in 2007, has cost £12.5 million. The Daily Star reports that a decision is pending as to whether the investigation should get further funding. This would be in the region of £300,000.
The McCann’s have apparently been told by the Metropolitan Police that they are continuing to treat the search for Madeleine as a missing person case. Detectives are said to have also told the couple that it is “highly unlikely” that Christian Brueckner – the man that German investigators have alleged killed Madeleine – will be charged over her disappearance.
Just days after her disappearance, Gerry and Kate McCann set up Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd. Newly released accounts for the fund have shown that it has a balance of £773,629.
Financial documents state that the money will be used to secure the safe return to her family of Madeleine McCann, “ensure her abduction is thoroughly investigated” and the culprits are identified and brought to justice. Any money left over after this will be donated to help solve similar cases.
A friend of the couple told the Daily Star: “Kate and Gerry know the police investigation cannot go on forever. But they will never give up looking for Madeleine.
“When it is shelved, and if there is no result, Kate and Gerry will use money in the fund to continue the hunt.
“That is what it is there for. They paid for their own team of private investigators initially and when the official inquiry ends they will do so again although in the past it has proven to be extremely costly.”
This year marks the 14th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance, after she went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in Portugal on 3 May 2007. 12 May this year would also be her 18th birthday.
A spokesman for the Home Office has said that they are giving “careful consideration” to a request from the Met for extra funding to continue the UK investigation.
