ALMOST 19 years after Madeleine McCann went missing there has been a major update in the search.
Funding for the search for the three-year-old who went missing in Portugal in 2007 has been extended.
Three-year-old Madeleine went missing from Praia da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal in 2007Credit: AFP
Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann shared a heartfelt statement at the end of last yearCredit: PA:Press Association
In 2020 Christian Brueckner was named by German cops as the prime suspectCredit: Dan Charity
Labelled Operation Grange, the investigation was launched in 2011, four years after she disappeared from a holiday home.
Home office ministers approved the request for the specialist Metropolitan Police team leading the investigation to receive more money.
The team, which is now just three police officers and one member of staff working part-time, will receive £86,000 for 2026/27.
Since it was first launched shortly after three-year-old Madeleine went missing from Praia da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal in 2007, Operation Grange has cost around £13.3m.
Last year the inquiry was granted £108,000 and in 2023/24 the search was given £110,000 to help the hunt, as it was believed police were on the edge of a breakthrough.
There have been a number of fresh searches in recent years including the 2023 scouring of a reservoir and dam 30 miles from where the holiday resort the she vanished from, in hopes of finding her body.
In 2023 a dam and reservoir were searched in hopes of finding her body
In 2020 was named by German cops as the prime suspect in the disappearance and murder of the tot.
In June last year a search was called off at the end of the third day after it failed to nail suspect Christian to the case with DNA evidence.
Scores of cops painstakingly near Praia da Luz with JCBs, radar and fingertip searches, believing the tot or her pyjamas could have been buried there.
The Sun revealed that this search was ordered after key figures in the case were flown back to to again give statements on the claims Brueckner kidnapped and killed the toddler in 2007.
He has never been formally charged over Madeleine’s disappearance and denies any involvement – but German cops are convinced he is guilty.
There was also a hard-drive of pictures, which German investigators continue to keep secret, that is believed to indicate
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
Here’s a timeline of the case which has gripped the world.
May 3, 2007
from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, sparking a and becoming one of the most famous missing persons cases in history.
January 15, 2016
Neighbour reports a possible ‘grave’ at Brueckner’s abandoned factory in East Germany.
Cops find disturbing and launch a full-scale search.
February 16, 2016
is convicted for abusing a girl of five in a park after images found on his laptop.
He was sentenced to 15-months behind bars but was already on the run by then.
May 3, 2017
Around this time, calls an information hotline after watching a ten-year anniversary special on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
He reports an alleged confession by Christian Brueckner.
September 27, 2018
On-the-run Christian Brueckner is arrested over outstanding drugs claims in Italy.
He is extradited to Germany the following year.
December 16, 2019
Christian Brueckner was convicted, in Germany, for the 2005 rape of an American woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, after his DNA was matched to a hair found on her bed.
He was sentenced to seven years behind bars.
June 4, 2020
German prosecutors reveal to the world they have a suspect in custody under investigation for the abduction of Madeleine McCann.
For the first time they claim .
German media later name him as .
June 23, 2023
In his first interview, witness Helge B alleges to German newspaper Bild that Christian Brueckner all-but-confessed the Madeleine abduction to him, by allegedly saying “she didn’t scream” as they talked about the case, at a music festival, in Spain.
February 16, 2024
Brueckner goes on trial accused of none-McCann allegations of rape and sex assault, in Braunschweig, Germany.
Prosecutors hope for a conviction to keep him behind bars permanently and lead to McCann charges.
October 8, 2024
.
Prosecutors launch an appeal, however. Decision pending.
September 17, 2025
after serving sentence for rape and allowed to walk free.
Earlier this month it was revealed that has moved back to his hometown of Braunschweig and his new flat is just yards from a school.
has become a £1million headache for police in , requiring 24-hour surveillance since he was last September, when his term for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old woman expired.
Unsurprisingly he has struggled to settle in a number of neighbourhoods across northern Germany, as families regularly demand he be moved on.
Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann shared a heartfelt statement at the end of last year hoping New Year would bring “the breakthrough we long for”.
Posting to the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page, the couples said: “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 & for continuing to hope for positive news of Madeleine.”
In June last year a search was called off at the end of the third dayCredit: Dan Charity
Christian Brueckner has never been formally charged over Madeleine’s disappearanceCredit: Handout
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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