MADDIE HOPE Kate and Gerry McCann hope new PM Theresa May will revive search for missing tot
The new PM already has given Met Police an extra £95,000 to help keep the search for Maddie going
Exclusive
By LAUREN FRUEN and TRACEY KANDOHLA
19th July 2016, 12:55 pm
The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have been offered fresh hope in finding their little girl by Britain’s new Prime Minister Theresa May.
Kate and Gerry hope that the former Home Secretary – who has publicly backed their search – could save the fading police hunt.
Scotland Yard’s £12 million pound investigation into Maddie’s disappearance is due to be axed within months.
But former Home Secretary May – who previously backed the couple – could now make a U-turn giving the family fresh hope.
A source close to the McCann’s said yesterday: “Kate and Gerry know the inquiry has to end one day but it is possible more time could be granted by Mrs May and her new Home Secretary Amber Rudd. Theresa has met the couple in the past and has been very supportive.”
Maddie disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, nearly 10 years ago.
In her role as Home Secretary May granted the Met Police an extra £95,000 to help keep the search for Maddie going until October despite failing to unearth any new clues.
Maddie’s gran Sue Healy said at the time: “This is good news and we are very grateful for that.”
But Scotland Yard boss Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe later admitted that unless they get a new line of inquiry they will have to give up the search.
He warned in Spring that the high profile search could end soon as police have just one final lead left to follow which he said “everybody agrees if worth pursuing.”
Hogan-Howe said: “There is a line of inquiry that remains to be concluded and it’s expected in the coming months that will happen.
“There’s been a lot of investigation time spent on this terrible case. Everybody wants to know if she is alive and if she is where is she, and sadly if she’s dead then we need to give some comfort to the family.”
The investigation has been drastically scaled back surviving with a team of three when there were, at one stage, thirty officers.
Mrs May previously told The Sun: “We all want to see this beautiful little girl returned to her parents. That’s why we have been doing everything we can behind the scenes.”
Before The Met Police inquiry was ordered in May 2011 by then PM David Cameron Kate had slammed the Government for “giving up on Madeleine”.
Launching an online petition in November 2010 to lobby the British and Portuguese authorities for a review of the case, she told her “disappointment”.
She said: “There is an abductor out there who is free to take another child. Other children are at risk and nothing is being done. Theresa May said she didn’t want to make any commitment. It was disappointing.
“I can’t get my head round the Government giving up on Madeleine. Why are missing children not important? They look for terrorists, why can’t they look for child abductors?”
The Government had a change of heart after Kate penned an emotional open letter, published in The Sun and delivered to Downing Street.
She called on the PM to press for a full independent and transparent review into Maddie’s case.
Mr Cameron wrote to the McCann’s, after ordering the Met Police to reopen every file on the missing youngster, saying he hoped “new action” would “help boost efforts in the search.”
He added: “Your ordeal is every parent’s worst nightmare and my heart goes out to both of you. I simply cannot imagine the pain you have experienced over the years.”
A Yard spokesperson said yesterday: “The Operation Grange team have considered the recent media speculation but we are not prepared to discuss our ongoing investigation to discover what happened to Madeleine McCann.”
The McCann source added: “It would be a boost to Kate and Gerry for the inquiry to continue but when it does end they will continue the search themselves.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1467966/madeleine-maddie-kate-and-gerry-mccann-hope-new-pm-theresa-may-will-revive-search-for-missing-tot/
The new PM already has given Met Police an extra £95,000 to help keep the search for Maddie going
Exclusive
By LAUREN FRUEN and TRACEY KANDOHLA
19th July 2016, 12:55 pm
The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have been offered fresh hope in finding their little girl by Britain’s new Prime Minister Theresa May.
Kate and Gerry hope that the former Home Secretary – who has publicly backed their search – could save the fading police hunt.
Scotland Yard’s £12 million pound investigation into Maddie’s disappearance is due to be axed within months.
But former Home Secretary May – who previously backed the couple – could now make a U-turn giving the family fresh hope.
A source close to the McCann’s said yesterday: “Kate and Gerry know the inquiry has to end one day but it is possible more time could be granted by Mrs May and her new Home Secretary Amber Rudd. Theresa has met the couple in the past and has been very supportive.”
Maddie disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, nearly 10 years ago.
In her role as Home Secretary May granted the Met Police an extra £95,000 to help keep the search for Maddie going until October despite failing to unearth any new clues.
Maddie’s gran Sue Healy said at the time: “This is good news and we are very grateful for that.”
But Scotland Yard boss Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe later admitted that unless they get a new line of inquiry they will have to give up the search.
He warned in Spring that the high profile search could end soon as police have just one final lead left to follow which he said “everybody agrees if worth pursuing.”
Hogan-Howe said: “There is a line of inquiry that remains to be concluded and it’s expected in the coming months that will happen.
“There’s been a lot of investigation time spent on this terrible case. Everybody wants to know if she is alive and if she is where is she, and sadly if she’s dead then we need to give some comfort to the family.”
The investigation has been drastically scaled back surviving with a team of three when there were, at one stage, thirty officers.
Mrs May previously told The Sun: “We all want to see this beautiful little girl returned to her parents. That’s why we have been doing everything we can behind the scenes.”
Before The Met Police inquiry was ordered in May 2011 by then PM David Cameron Kate had slammed the Government for “giving up on Madeleine”.
Launching an online petition in November 2010 to lobby the British and Portuguese authorities for a review of the case, she told her “disappointment”.
She said: “There is an abductor out there who is free to take another child. Other children are at risk and nothing is being done. Theresa May said she didn’t want to make any commitment. It was disappointing.
“I can’t get my head round the Government giving up on Madeleine. Why are missing children not important? They look for terrorists, why can’t they look for child abductors?”
The Government had a change of heart after Kate penned an emotional open letter, published in The Sun and delivered to Downing Street.
She called on the PM to press for a full independent and transparent review into Maddie’s case.
Mr Cameron wrote to the McCann’s, after ordering the Met Police to reopen every file on the missing youngster, saying he hoped “new action” would “help boost efforts in the search.”
He added: “Your ordeal is every parent’s worst nightmare and my heart goes out to both of you. I simply cannot imagine the pain you have experienced over the years.”
A Yard spokesperson said yesterday: “The Operation Grange team have considered the recent media speculation but we are not prepared to discuss our ongoing investigation to discover what happened to Madeleine McCann.”
The McCann source added: “It would be a boost to Kate and Gerry for the inquiry to continue but when it does end they will continue the search themselves.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1467966/madeleine-maddie-kate-and-gerry-mccann-hope-new-pm-theresa-may-will-revive-search-for-missing-tot/
