Madeleine McCann crime expert says funds for 'final line of inquiry' won't be 'Holy Grail'

Madeleine McCann crime expert says funds for 'final line of inquiry' won't be 'Holy Grail'

A CRIME expert who has researched the disappearance of Madeleine McCann does not believe the new funding will help Scotland Yard solve the case.

By [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] / Published 3rd May 2018

Criminal profiler Pat Brown told Daily Star Online that Scotland Yard does not appear to have found any “solid leads” since launching Operation Grange in 2011.

Detectives have reportedly been given another £154,000 to continue the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine, who vanished on holiday in Portugal on May 3, 2007.

Operation Grange, which has cost the taxpayer £12million to date, has been given a six month extension by the Home Office to pursue a “final line of inquiry”.

Clarence Mitchell, family spokesman for the McCanns, said [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] if police deem there is “still work to be done”.

But Pat, author of Profile of the Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, said she was skeptical that the funds would help Scotland Yard find the missing girl, who would now be 14.

Speaking to Daily Star Online, she said: “Operation Grange has had seven years and more money than any missing child investigation to date and has not found Madeleine nor does it appear they have come up with any solid leads.

“I hardly believe they need more money to follow up on just one particular lead as if it was suddenly the Holy Grail.”

Pat suggested the Home Office may have succumbed to “political pressure” when deciding whether to allocate the new funds for the Madeleine investigation.

In 2016, Scotland Yard’s former commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe revealed the £12million Operation Grange search was nearing its end.

Investigations into theories of paedophile rings, a botched burglary attempt and abduction have proved fruitless.

Since her disappearance, aged three, cops have received reports of more than 9,000 sightings across the world.

However, despite claims she may have been taken to Belgium or Morocco in north Africa, detectives are no closer to solving the puzzle.

Nevertheless, lines of inquiry are still being pursued by Operation Grange 11 years after she vanished from her parent’s holiday resort.

On the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] today, her parents Kate and Gerry have released a heartfelt statement saying that “hope and perseverance remain” in the search for their “little girl”.

In the statement, they expressed hope that Madeleine could still be alive, vowing: “We will do whatever it takes to find her.”

The post reads: “It gets harder to know what to say or write as each anniversary of Madeleine's abduction approaches then passes.

“Life is full and busy which helps but Madeleine is still missing and she is still dearly missed.

“Information continues to come in (incredible as it may seem after so long, although we are grateful for that) and work goes on. Perseverance and hope remain.”

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This is like yesterday's bloomer left in the bread bin for a week - stale and mouldy.

Pat Brown

Well, I wasn’t misquoted, so I thank the reporter for that. But, as you can see, the actual point of my commentary was not included. Here is my total statement:

Joshua Nevett: I'd be interested to hear your perspective on the extra funds that have been given to Scotland Yard to pursue one “final line of inquiry”.

Pat Brown: Operation Grange has had seven years and more money than any missing child investigation to date and has not found Madeleine (dead or alive) nor does it appear they have come up with any solid leads. I hardly believe they need more money to follow up on just one particular lead as if it was suddenly the Holy Grail. It is more than odd that their investigation started with a remit to only investigate the crime as an abduction when, in fact, there is no evidence an abduction occurred. Furthermore, any proper review or investigation would start at the beginning and assume nothing; this means the parents should have been considered suspects until there was evidence to eliminate them. To date, the parents have not effectively been eliminated as participants in the disappearance of their daughter.

Joshua Nevett: Why do you think the Met Police have continued the investigation for more than a decade despite the lack of any major leads? It's seem disproportionate given the number of people that go missing every year.

Do you think the mystery of her disappearance will ever be solved? Why or why not?

Pat Brown: The Met DO have a major lead; it is the McCanns. However, the remit will not permit them to follow the top lead and IF the McCanns are indeed culpable in what happened to Madeleine, every other lead is fruitless and, therefore, seven years and a huge amount of taxpayer money has been wasted.


Even if the McCanns are not guilty of a crime other than neglect of their children, the amount of money spent on this one crime is outrageous especially considering that it isn't even a case that occurred within the UK and another police force has jurisdiction over it. Furthermore, if the McCanns were not involved, the only reasonable scenario would have have been a local child predator and Madeleine would almost surely have been dead within hours, meaning there would be no need of extensive worldwide searches or complicated investigations into child sex rings.

And why has this bizarre behavior of the Met police continued for seven years? I really don't know except to say that there was and is some political pressure that influenced this whole debacle.

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Hi Verdi,so if the Metropolitan Police Service are acting on a flawed Remit,then whoever drew up the Remit guidelines are culpable for"Misconduct In Public Office" due to the tax payer picking up the funding arrangements set by the Government?
Or is this another" Inadvertent Moment" of memory relapse that springs back into life when uncovered years later,aka(Amber Rudd) falling on Saint Theresa May's noble Swords!