Funding for the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann must cease; £11 million spent with no result is evidence that enough is enough
Over £11 million has been spent in relation to the search for Madeleine McCann since the then 3-year old disappeared on 3rd May 2007. The result? Absolutely no progress and a lot of unanswered questions.
Now, with the last round of public funding given to the element of the search known as Operation Grange by Theresa May in March set to run out in September, is the time to end the search. Enough is enough and in spite that some would suggest that the chances of finding the disappeared child is still there, the fact of the matter is that in ten years of following leads that have led nowhere resources that could have been allocated to other missing people have been squandered.
Last week, a Metropolitan Police spokesman told The Sun:
“A lot of potentially significant images and material were captured on previous trips to Portugal and we are still working on all leads…. The investigation continues with focus and determination. It is not winding down, it is not grinding to a halt. It is on going.”
Such sentiments will no doubt leave such people as Kerry Needham – whose 21-month year old son, Ben, disappeared in Greece on 24th July 1991 – spitting feathers. As of 2015, a comparative sum of just £700,000 had been spent on attempts to find him and thus one is left asking why the child of two middle class medics is worth 93% more than the son of an ordinary working class woman.
In 2015, Ms Needham, after supporters of the McCanns cruelly suggested those backing her in her search for her child were “toxic”, remarked: “I have never criticised the McCann family. I have only every criticised the authorities for the way the two cases have been handled so differently.”
Missing Madeleine – Questions without Answers
Many questions about what happened on the evening of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann remain. Some that have been highlighted by the press and discussed online include:
Why did the McCanns refuse to answer 48 questions put to her by the Portuguese police?
Why were certain records of phone calls on the evening of the disappearance “whoosh-clunked” from the memories of the phones of Mr and Mrs McCann and the ‘Tapas 9’?
Why did a British sniffer dog sense the smell of a corpse in a cupboard in the apartment from which Madeleine McCann disappear?
Why did a sniffer dog also supposedly sense the smell of a corpse in a vehicle hired by the couple a month after the disappearance of their daughter?
Why did Mr and Mrs McCann go jogging and play tennis in the days after their daughter’s disappearance?
Was it acceptable for Mr and Mrs McCann’s mortgage to be paid by the fund established to search for their missing daughter?