Madeleine McCann probe 'could be shut down for good in three weeks after funding runs out'

Madeleine McCann has been missing for 11 and a half years (Picture: PA)
Madeleine McCann has been missing for 11 and a half years (Picture: PA)

The search for missing Madeleine McCann could be halted within the next three weeks.

Funding for the search is set to run out at the end of this month and a fresh request for more money has not been made to the Home Office, the Mail Online reported.

Her parents, Kate and Gerry fear the police hunt could be shelved by the new home secretary, Sajid Javid.

Detectives have failed to discover any significant clues during their most recent trips to Portugal, where Madeleine disappeared in 2007.

She was three years old when she went missing from the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.

Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared 11 years ago (Picture: PA)
Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared 11 years ago (Picture: PA)

A source close to the McCanns told the Mail Online: “They have been here before.

“They simply have no idea if the search will abruptly come to an end or will carry on.

“It is a daunting prospect they face once more.

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“Kate and Gerry are grateful to the Metropolitan Police for everything they have done over the years and hope of course that the inquiry into their daughter’s abduction will continue if more funds are requested and made available.”

British police searching an area near Praia da Luz in 2014 (Picture: PA)
British police searching an area near Praia da Luz in 2014 (Picture: PA)

The police’s Operation Grange inquiry has been scaled down but officers have continued to visit Portugal in a bid to find anything that will lead them to Madeleine.

In March, the operation was granted £150,000 in extra funding by the Home Office.

More than £11 million has been spent on trying to find the missing girl. British officers have gone through 40,000 documents produced by Portuguese police in the original investigation, as well as information from eight teams of private investigators.

About 600 “persons of interest” have been examined and several reported sightings of Madeleine all over the world have been assessed.

In May, Kate and Gerry posted a tribute to mark their daughter’s 15th birthday.

They told her: “We love you and we’re waiting for you and we’re never going to give up.”