Portuguese police continue probe into Madeleine McCann's disappearance

Portuguese police will continue their inquiry into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance despite Scotland Yard ‘winding up’ their probe later this year

• Portuguese police will continue inquiry into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance
• Comes as Scotland Yard are set to ‘set to wind up’ their probe later this year 
• Cops ‘frustrated’ at lack of movement in case against Christian Brueckner
• Operation Grange, overseen by Met Police, is estimated to have cost £13 million 

Portuguese police have said they will continue their inquiry into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance despite Scotland Yard ‘winding up’ their probe later this year.

The Portuguese Attorney General’s Office has insisted authorities will keep their investigation going to find the missing youngster and said their separate inquest – which is being led by prosecutors on the Algarve – will ‘continue’.

Authorities also added that closing their long-running probe was ‘completely out of the question’, reports The Mirror.  

Last month it was reported that the Metropolitan Police will be ending their inquiry into Madeleine’s whereabouts.

Funding for the Operation Grange inquiry – launched four years after Portuguese authorities began their unsuccessful search for the youngster in 2007 – will end this autumn unless new lines of inquiry emerge. 

British detectives are said to be frustrated by the failure to compile sufficient evidence to prosecute Christian Brueckner, a convicted paedophile, who was named two years ago by German police as the prime suspect for Madeleine’s abduction.

He has denied any involvement in the disappearance of the youngster from an apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve.

Operation Grange, overseen by the Metropolitan Police, is estimated to have cost £13 million  

The Portuguese Attorney General’s Office has insisted authorities will keep their investigation going to find the missing youngster and said their separate inquest – which is being led by prosecutors on the Algarve – will ‘continue’ Police also added that closing their long-running probe is ‘completely out of the question’, reports The Mirror  

The Operation Grange team has in recent years been pared down from 40 officers to just four detectives working under Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell. His team also liaises with Madeleine’s parents, of Rothley, Leicsestershire

The Sun reported that it was understood Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate, both 54, are aware of the impending closure but have vowed to continue their search.

Brueckner is serving a seven-year jail sentence in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman. 

The Operation Grange team has in recent years been pared down from 40 officers to just four detectives working under Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell.

His team also liaises with Madeleine’s parents, of Rothley, Leicsestershire.

In June 2020, police in Britain and Germany launched a renewed appeal for witnesses after disclosing they had a new suspect, who was later revealed to be Brueckner.

German prosecutors remain convinced he was responsible for the youngster’s disappearance but despite an intensive investigation have not brought any charges.

Detectives are said to be frustrated by the failure to compile sufficient evidence to prosecute Christian Brueckner (pictured), a convicted paedophile, who was named two years ago by German police as the prime suspect for Madeleine’s abduction

Brueckner also is alleged to have admitted abducting Madeleine to a friend – and the German team of investigators, led by public prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, said they were certain he had killed the three-year-old.

It is now highly unlikely that he will be charged over her disappearance. 

Wolters went as far as holding a press conference where he addressed Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry over the air.

He insisted: ‘We are confident we have the man who took and killed your daughter. All I can do is ask for your patience.’

But claims German detectives had sent multiple notes to Madeleine’s family were rubbished within days.

And the Met itself released a pointed statement correcting the allegations about the correspondence.

In May last year, Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured) restated they still believed Madeleine could be alive. A statement that month said: ‘The Covid pandemic has made this year even more difficult for many reasons but thankfully the investigation to find Madeleine and her abductor has continued’

It said last year: ‘The Met received one letter from the BKA [Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany] on June 12, which was passed to the family. 

‘The letter did not state that there was evidence or proof that Madeleine is dead, the MPS continues to investigate Madeleine’s disappearance as a missing person investigation. No letter has been received by the Met from the German prosecutor.’

In fact in May last year, Kate and Gerry restated they still believed she could be alive.

A statement that month said: ‘The Covid pandemic has made this year even more difficult for many reasons but thankfully the investigation to find Madeleine and her abductor has continued. 

‘We hang on to the hope, however small, that we will see Madeleine again. As we have said repeatedly, we need to know what has happened to our lovely daughter, no matter what. We are very grateful to the police for their continued efforts.’

Brueckner is currently serving a prison sentence for drug trafficking and is expected to remain behind bars until 2026 after losing a bid to overturn a rape conviction.

He was last year found guilty of the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in the same Portuguese resort from which Madeleine vanished and sentenced to seven years in jail, at a court in Brunswick, Lower Saxony.

Brueckner was in Praia da Luz when Madeleine went missing on the night of May 3, 2007, pinpointed there by a mobile phone call. Madeleine – then aged three – disappeared from an apartment building (above) where she was staying with her family

Brueckner was in Praia da Luz when Madeleine went missing on the night of May 3, 2007, pinpointed there by a mobile phone call.

Madeleine – then aged three – disappeared from an apartment where she was staying with her family. 

Kate and Gerry, had been dining with friends in a nearby restaurant and periodically checking on Madeleine and her two siblings – Sean and Amelie – as they slept.

Around 9pm, Gerry went to check on the children and found them sleeping. At 9.30pm, a family friend went to the apartment and heard no noise, but did not check far enough into the room to see if Madeleine was there. 

At 10pm, Kate went to check on the children and found Maddie was gone.

The disappearance was reported immediately and a search party launched the same evening including officers from the Guarda Nacional Republicana and the Polícia Judiciária, which launched an investigation.

Amaral was brought in to head that investigation and ran it for several months, infamously naming both Kate and Gerry as suspects.

He was sacked shortly after launching a public attack on British detectives – accusing them of only pursuing investigative lines given to them by the McCanns.

He has since published a book and appeared in a documentary called ‘The Truth of the Lie’ in which he repeated his claims against the McCanns.

The family won a libel suit against him in 2015, and were awarded £500,000 in damages. 

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