UK detectives granted additional £108,000 in Madeleine McCann probe

Ministers have approved more than £100,000 in additional funding for Scotland Yard detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Home Office sources said a request to provide up to £108,000 was approved for the probe, known as Operation Grange, for 2025-26.

It is understood one detective chief inspector, one detective constable and one member of police staff are working on the investigation.

Madeleine was three when she vanished while on holiday with her parents in Praia da Luz, after they left her and her younger twin siblings asleep in their apartment while they went out to dinner with friends.

The prime suspect in the youngster’s disappearance was recently cleared of unrelated sex offences in Germany, which were allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

Christian Brueckner, 48, spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.

He is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape of an elderly woman at her home in the resort town in 2005.

He has denied all the charges against him and any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.

The Metropolitan Police is understood to be continuing its support for authorities in Germany and Portugal.

Detective Chief Inspector, Mark Cranwell, who oversees the British investigation into the disappearance of the youngster said: “We continue to support Madeleine’s family to understand what happened on the evening of 3 May, 2007 in Praia da Luz.

“Our thoughts remain with the family.“

The total funding given to Operation Grange has been more than £13.2 million since 2011.