Madeleine McCann probe hit by major blow before anniversary of disappearance

The Metropolitan Police investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance has been allocated £86,000 for 2026/27, down from £108,000 the previous year

There has been a significant development in the search for Madeleine McCann – almost 19 years since she vanished – and not one likely to be welcomed by those directly involved.

Home Office ministers have given the green light to continued funding for Operation Grange, which began in 2011 following Madeleine’s disappearance from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.

The specialist Metropolitan Police team running the investigation has been granted £86,000 for 2026/27, a reduction from the previous year’s £108,000. The probe has cost approximately £13.3m since its inception. Madeleine was holidaying with her family in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal, in 2007 when she disappeared aged just three. The 19th anniversary of her disappearance falls on 3 May.

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Operation Grange now consists of three police officers and one staff member working part-time. DC Mark Draycott, part of the team, told the trial of convicted rapist Christian Brueckner that he had received a call from a man called Helge Busching who had identified Brueckner as a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, reports the Mirror.

Brueckner was freed after completing a prison sentence in his native Germany last September for raping an American woman, then 72, in Portugal in 2005. He continues to be a prime suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance, though he has never faced charges relating to it.

Meanwhile, in January Kate and Gerry McCann posted a poignant statement expressing their hope that the New Year would deliver “the breakthrough we long for”. Writing on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page, the couple stated: “As 2025 draws to a close, we wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us, in whatever way, over the past year and for continuing to hope for positive news of Madeleine.”

The McCanns expressed gratitude to the public and police for their ongoing support during the investigation, concluding their message with: “With our best wishes for a peaceful and positive new year and may 2026 bring us the breakthrough we long for. Kate, Gerry and family.”