Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News

by Sceptic 13.11.18 17:41

Madeleine McCann search: Home Office to provide extra £150k for investigation

17:34, UK, Tuesday 13 November 2018

Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News Skynews-madeleine-mccann-missing_4299475

Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News Skynews-madeleine-mccann-missing_4299475

[size=11]Image:Madeleine McCann disappeared on 3 May 2007
[/size]

[url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Madeleine McCann search%3A Home Office to provide extra %C2%A3150k for investigation&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2Fmadeleine-mccann-search-home-office-to-provide-extra-150k-for-investigation-11553455][/url]

[url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Madeleine McCann search%3A Home Office to provide extra %C2%A3150k for investigation&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2Fmadeleine-mccann-search-home-office-to-provide-extra-150k-for-investigation-11553455][/url]
[url=https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2Fmadeleine-mccann-search-home-office-to-provide-extra-150k-for-investigation-11553455&t=Madeleine McCann search%3A Home Office to provide extra %C2%A3150k for investigation][/url]

[url=https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2Fmadeleine-mccann-search-home-office-to-provide-extra-150k-for-investigation-11553455&t=Madeleine McCann search%3A Home Office to provide extra %C2%A3150k for investigation][/url]
[url=whatsapp://send?text=Shared from Sky News%3A Madeleine McCann search%3A Home Office to provide extra %C2%A3150k for investigation https%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2Fmadeleine-mccann-search-home-office-to-provide-extra-150k-for-investigation-11553455][/url]

[url=whatsapp://send?text=Shared from Sky News%3A Madeleine McCann search%3A Home Office to provide extra %C2%A3150k for investigation https%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2Fmadeleine-mccann-search-home-office-to-provide-extra-150k-for-investigation-11553455][/url]

[size]
The Home Office will provide an extra £150,000 for the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, say Sky sources.
Funding for the investigation - dubbed Operation Grange - had run out at the end of September, prompting the Metropolitan Police to apply for money to extend it until the end of March 2019.
The Home Office has said it "maintains an ongoing dialogue with the MPS" over funding for the investigation, which has cost £11.6m so far.
Madeleine was three when she disappeared during a holiday with her family in Praia da Luz in Portugal in May 2007.

In 2013, with the Portuguese police appearing to have made little progress, the Met began its own investigation - Operation Grange.[/size]

by **sharonl** 13.11.18 17:48

This is getting beyond ridiculous. The home office, Operation Grange, Leics cops and everyone else must realise by now that Madeleine was not abducted.

How much more is this coverup going to cost us? I would love to know how this money is being spent because no investigation is going to follow false leads and if Officers at Operation Grange can't see that the evidence from the corrupt McCann PIs are false, maybe they are not fit for the job.

by Doug D 13.11.18 19:16

Well they didn't get the information from Tony's FOI request!

Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News Grange10

Met Police late again!

by willowthewisp 13.11.18 19:33

Perhaps the Police could be charged with "Perverting the course of Justice" due to the amount of involvement of the Gold Group,Leicestershire Police and the Metropolitan Police Service,that have all been involved from the 3 May 2007,yet they still have no person's of interest or Suspects after Eleven years?

"Nick" is facing eleven counts of Perverting a Course of Justice and One charge of "Fraud" that the Police filled in his forms for him?

Yet,the same Police forces have refused to Investigate any of the "Private Investigators"bogus claims,Metodo 3 the Family hired,obtaining funding from the "Find Madeleine fund",that comes under their jurisdiction!

Even DCI Andy Redwood has taken up a new career working for the financial Industry,let us hope he has more success than he did in finding the abductor who took Madeleine away during Operation Grange Remit,Abduction,with No Evidence after Eleven years of duping the Tax payer?

Perhaps they could make a New "Clarrie On film"with his bizarre starring quotes and videos!

by Doug D 13.11.18 20:02

BBC has it now at:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46196238

Strangely, or not, last time around 'our Trace' came up with this:

MADDIE CASH ROW Latest Madeleine McCann search fund boost could be £150,000 of taxpayers’ cash and is being kept secret

by Jill Havern on Sun Apr 15, 2018 2:47 pm

The Met Police has applied for extra funding but the Home Office has refused to say how the amount as it confirmed the money had already been approved.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6056658/madeleine-mccann-cash-grant-150000-amber-rudd-secret-public-backlash/

By Tracey Kandohla

THE Government has approved a fresh cash grant for the Madeleine McCann search fund - but the amount is being kept secret amid fears of a public backlash.
Scotland Yard has applied for the funding, which is believed to be as much as £150,000 - the equivalent of four London Police officers - as the hunt for the missing youngster continues.

so what's changed this time?

by Doug D 13.11.18 20:29

In September 2017, the breakdown was given by TK as follows:

The figure is made up of the new £154,000 for police operational costs, the previous £85,000 given in March, totalling £239,000.
An extra £70,000 has also come out of the budget for “recently agreed admin and employment” which does not pay for detectives.
The spokesman added: “The number of officers remains at the same level.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4569974/madeleine-mccann-cops-given-154000-to-continue-search-for-missing-child-in-fresh-hope-for-parents-kate-and-gerry/

and we know that the March 2017 amount of £85k was a cock up, as they managed to ‘forget’ £70k odd, so the funding is staying at the same level, presumably for the same level of police and support staff.

We’ve obviously come a long way from the ‘net closing in on just one man who is key to mystery’ from March 2017!

by Doug D 13.11.18 20:45

Tracey a bit late on parade, having to share the byline again, and been relegated to second place in the billing.

It’s a ‘LATEST”, not an “EXCLUSIVE” either!

Madeleine McCann search BOOST as cops secure £150k of extra funding to continue probe

By Holly Christodoulou and Tracey Kandohla
13th November 2018, 5:58 pm
Updated: 13th November 2018, 6:28 pm

COPS probing the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been given a £150,000 boost to continue searching for the missing youngster.
The Home Office has provided a further six months worth of funding to Scotland Yard for the investigation, which has already cost £11.6million.

Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry McCann have never given up hope their daughter, who disappeared in May 2007 from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal aged three, is still alive.
They were dealt a blow in September when funding for the investigation - dubbed Operation Grange - ran out - causing the police to apply for more money.
But the Home Office confirmed today they were were maintaining an "ongoing dialogue with the MPS".
Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said today: "They are very encouraged that the Met Police still believe there is work left to be done in the search for their daughter and they remain incredibly grateful to the Home Office for providing an extra budget for the investigation.

“Beyond this they cannot comment on the ongoing operation.”
Despite a thorough search spanning several countries, there has been no significant clues as to what could have happened to Maddie.
Her parents have been fighting for more funding as they fear the investigation could be shut down in the face of police cuts.
The operation was launched in 2013 after cops in Portugal failed to make any headway in the case.
It was revealed earlier this year detectives involved in the case have been secretly visiting Portugal.
Five return flights were booked to the country, where the toddler from Leicestershire disappeared in 2007, Met Police documents revealed.
Officers have also poured through 40,000 documents filed by Portuguese officials who have been involved in the investigation.

Madeleine McCann parents' spokesman reveals 'only two or three people on the planet really know what happened to Maddie'
Maddie was three when she disappeared from a holiday apartment in the Algarve region of Portugal while her parents dined with friends nearby.
She disappeared on the evening of May 3 from her bed in a holiday apartment in Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva, Praia da Luz, where she had been sleeping with her brother and sister.
She would have turned 15 on on May 12, 2018.
A number of potential leads have emerged since the little girl vanished, but none amounted to anything and no arrests have ever been made.
In 2010, Maddie’s distraught parents met with then-home secretary Theresa May to talk about the hunt for their daughter.
The following year, Scotland Yard launched its own review, named Operation Grange, into the case at the behest of the future PM.
They were granted additional funding of £150,000 in March which was set to last until September.
A Scotland Yard spokesperson said: “We have confirmed that Special Grant funding of £150,000 will be provided to the Metropolitan Police Service for the six-month period to 31 March 2019. This is an ongoing police investigation.”
The parents of missing Madeleine McCann describe the pain 10 years on

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7627617/cops-given-further-150k-to-continue-hunt-for-missing-madeleine-mccann/

by Verdi 13.11.18 21:10

sharonl wrote:This is getting beyond ridiculous. The home office, Operation Grange, Leics cops and everyone else must realise by now that Madeleine was not abducted.

How much more is this coverup going to cost us? I would love to know how this money is being spent because no investigation is going to follow false leads and if Officers at Operation Grange can't see that the evidence from the corrupt McCann PIs are false, maybe they are not fit for the job.

There's only four of them left in Operation Grange - apparently! That includes the presiding chief officer, DCI Nic 'I nick 'em before they know it' thingamabob.

My belief is they spend their entire time redirecting FOIs, filing awkward letters, answering pesky intrusive telephone calls and above all else .... shredding titter

!

by Verdi 13.11.18 21:14

The Sun wrote:The operation was launched in 2013 after cops in Portugal failed to make any headway in the case.

Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News 51c35-eddie_howl

by Ladyinred 13.11.18 21:45

Sonia P has tweeted that she will be appearing on Nick Ferrari, LBC, tomorrow morning to explain why the police have to be allowed to finish the job.

by Rogue-a-Tory 13.11.18 22:45

Ladyinred wrote:Sonia P has tweeted that she will be appearing on Nick Ferrari, LBC, tomorrow morning to explain why the police have to be allowed to finish the job.

Hope Sonia has patience and longevity on her side as it will be several decades before MI5 publicly releases its files.

by Verdi 13.11.18 22:59

Does Ms Poulton have inside information I ask myself?

A few folk out there claim to have personal contact with the Metropolitan Police, worse still the Portuguese police. A race for supremacy or just downright good old fashioned cobblers !?!

I'm inclined towards the latter.

by Verdi 13.11.18 23:40

Well, it can't be denied, Olive Oyl don't arf put herself about..

Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News Oliveo10

The Daily Mail has this to say..

Home Office agrees to give police extra £150,000 to extend hunt for missing Madeline McCann

The funding is expected to keep Operation Grange going until March 2019
Taxpayers demanded justification for pouring more money into the probe
Operation Grange has already cost £11.6million

By Tracey Kandohla and Charlie Moore - 13th November 2018

Police will get a further £150,000 to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, it was reported today.
The funding will keep Operation Grange going until March 2019.

The news was met with anger on social media as taxpayers demanded justification for pouring more money into the probe which has already cost £11.6million.

Kate and Gerry McCann are 'incredibly grateful' to the Home Office for approving Scotland Yard's latest request for more money amid stringent government cutbacks, family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said.

He said: 'They are very encouraged that the Met Police still believe there is work left to be done in the search for their daughter and they remain incredibly grateful to the Home Office for providing an extra budget for the investigation.

'Beyond this they cannot comment on the ongoing operation.'

The Yard had applied for renewed funding in September but the Home Office has declined to say until today if it had been approved - leaving Maddie's desperate parents on tenterhooks for weeks.

A spokesperson said: 'We have confirmed that Special Grant funding of £150,000 will be provided to the Metropolitan Police Service for the six-month period to 31 March 2019. This is an ongoing police investigation.'

Three-year-old Maddie vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal's Praia da Luz in May 2007.

She had been left alone sleeping with her younger twin siblings while her parents were dining with pals in a nearby tapas restaurant.

Former GP turned medical worker Kate and heart doctor Gerry, both 50, of Rothley, Leicestershire, cling onto a glimmer of hope that Maddie could still be alive after more than 11 years.

She would be aged 15. Detectives have refused to discuss details of the 'important final line of inquiry' they are pursuing.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'We cannot give a running commentary on the investigation while it is ongoing.'

The inquiry, launched in May 2011 and now headed by Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall, still has 'important work to do and focused lines of investigation to be pursued, a force spokesman said:.

'The inquiry has not reached a conclusion and we're continuing with focus and determination. There are no immediate plans to reduce officer numbers further at this time.'

Mr Mitchell said: 'Kate and Gerry appreciate everything the authorities have done and are doing to get a resolution after all this time. It gives them hope that one day they may finally find out what happened to their daughter.'

Ex police chiefs and some members of public have slammed the Maddie inquiry as a waste of public money and officers' time despite it being drastically scaled down over the past few years.

The McCanns have around £4million saved in a public fund to help find their daughter. But they fear this could be swallowed up in legal fees and a potential libel payout to former Portuguese officer Gonçalo Amaral in their ongoing and bitter court battle.

There is a healthy balance of nearly £750,000 sitting in the Find Maddie Fund. The stash of cash - made up mainly of public donations and profits from Kate's bestseller book - has grown over the past financial year, according to the latest accounts.

Last month a former detective has revealed he remains 'hopeful' that Madeleine McCann will be found alive in Portugal, where she went missing in 2007.

Former Detective Inspector Dave Edgar was hired by Kate and Gerry McCann to look into their daughter's disappearance and worked on the case for three years before it was taken over by the Met Police in 2011.

Mr Edgar believes the case is 'solvable' and maintains there are 'people out there who know what happened'.

Last year Mr Edgar claimed the kidnapper was being protected and said the disappearance was 'intricately planned by a gang of paedophiles'.

He once said he believed Madeleine was being held in an underground cell or dungeon, like the victims of Josef Fritzl.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6385497/Home-Office-agrees-police-150-000-Madeline-McCann.html
....................

Take note..

The McCanns have around £4million saved in a public fund to help find their daughter. But they fear this could be swallowed up in legal fees and a potential libel payout to former Portuguese officer Gonçalo Amaral in their ongoing and bitter court battle.

There is a healthy balance of nearly £750,000 sitting in the Find Maddie Fund. The stash of cash - made up mainly of public donations and profits from Kate's bestseller book - has grown over the past financial year, according to the latest accounts.

Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News 1f3b5

Money, it's a gas

Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News 1f3b6

Pink Floyd

by maebee 13.11.18 23:43

Ladyinred wrote:Sonia P has tweeted that she will be appearing on Nick Ferrari, LBC, tomorrow morning to explain why the police have to be allowed to finish the job.

The only way the job will be finished is for Madeleine's parents to be investigated by OG

by sandancer 14.11.18 0:15

" Finish the job ?"

To finish something you must have started it first !

Bungling burglars , dead tractor drivers waitresses and women in purple don't count

Do not pass Go , do not collect ( insert ridiculous amount of money here )

by Verdi 14.11.18 0:51

sandancer wrote:
Do not pass Go , do not collect ( insert ridiculous amount of money here )

Ridiculous amounts of money that seemed to get stuck on £11.6 million some years ago.

Time is relative - money is of the essence?

by **Hobs** 14.11.18 3:06

They are investigating a crime that does not exist.
Their remit is to investigate a crime that did not take place in the UK and did not exist in Portugal.
£11 million pounds plus is being spent on a lie.

What we don't know is where that money has been and is being spent.
We don't know all this money has been spent on a little girl who died in Portugal giving their police jurisprudence.

We have not been given a break down of spending on this case

What is so special about Maddie that huge sums have been spent by the UK police?
Given the money spent why have the mccanns not been arrested and questioned regarding their version of events?
Why have the tapas 7 not been questioned?
The questions would be in English so no excuse that their answers were mistranslated.

Arrest the whole bunch including Diane Webster at the same time and put them all in different stations so they cannot see or hear what someone else is saying.
No referring back to their previous statements.
No standing in the room whilst their other half is with/behind them.
Have all the stations linked by phone so they can compare answers to specific questions.
Ask the same basic questions first starting from the moment they boarded the flight.
Get them to write a written statement of what happened during that week, let them start where they want as that could be telling.
Let them stew whilst the statements are read, compared and a basic list of questions based on said statements.

They can have a lawyer present and can also refuse to answer any questions with notes taken of the exact question they were asked and the exact wording of their response.

Officers must only use the words introduced by the subject and not to introduce new words when phrasing a question.
NO multiple questions as the subject will decide what they are answering.
Ask the question and wait,let them respond and wait a bit more as guilty persons don't like empty air and will attempt to fill it.

Get a statement analyst to do the interview preferably.
Have an English speaking Portuguese officer present if possible to help ask questions.

by NickE 14.11.18 7:29

Hobs wrote:They are investigating a crime that does not exist.
Their remit is to investigate a crime that did not take place in the UK and did not exist in Portugal.
£11 million pounds plus is being spent on a lie.

What we don't know is where that money has been and is being spent.
We don't know all this money has been spent on a little girl who died in Portugal giving their police jurisprudence.

We have not been given a break down of spending on this case

What is so special about Maddie that huge sums have been spent by the UK police?
Given the money spent why have the mccanns not been arrested and questioned regarding their version of events?
Why have the tapas 7 not been questioned?
The questions would be in English so no excuse that their answers were mistranslated.

Arrest the whole bunch including Diane Webster at the same time and put them all in different stations so they cannot see or hear what someone else is saying.
No referring back to their previous statements.
No standing in the room whilst their other half is with/behind them.
Have all the stations linked by phone so they can compare answers to specific questions.
Ask the same basic questions first starting from the moment they boarded the flight.
Get them to write a written statement of what happened during that week, let them start where they want as that could be telling.
Let them stew whilst the statements are read, compared and a basic list of questions based on said statements.

They can have a lawyer present and can also refuse to answer any questions with notes taken of the exact question they were asked and the exact wording of their response.

Officers must only use the words introduced by the subject and not to introduce new words when phrasing a question.
NO multiple questions as the subject will decide what they are answering.
Ask the question and wait,let them respond and wait a bit more as guilty persons don't like empty air and will attempt to fill it.

Get a statement analyst to do the interview preferably.
Have an English speaking Portuguese officer present if possible to help ask questions.

If we put this in a perspective.
Here is what FCO can and can not do for you if you are detained as a British nationals in Portugal.

Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News Screen68

Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News Screen69

Here if you become a victim of a crime:

Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News Screen70

And the McCann's:

Government and Embassy Officials

Robert Henderson – British Consul for the Algarve – immediate (persuaded Portuguese Police to allow the McCanns to wash clothes before seizing them)

John Buck – British Ambassador to Portugal (Lisbon), arrived immediately

Angela Morado – British Proconsul, arrived immediately

Liz Dow, British Consul rom the Embassy in Lisbon, arrived immediately

Andy Bowes, British Embassy Press Officer, arrived immediately

Sheree Dodd, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Other staff from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

British Police Officers

Glen Power, British Police Liaison Officer for Portugal, arrived 5 May

An ‘Analyst’ (unnamed) from the National Policing Improvements Agency, arrived 4 May

Detective Chief Superintendent Bob Small, Leicestershire Police (4 May)

Two other police ‘family liaison’ officers from Leicestershire Police (4 May)

Government security and secret service personnel

Staff from MI5 (unnamed)

Staff from Child Exploitation and OnLine Protection Service (unnamed – Kate McCann in her book describes them As ‘Forensic Psychologists’), arrived 4 May

More staff from CEOP, the ‘Director of the Forensic Psychology Unit’ AND a CEOP ‘social worker’ (arrived 6 May)

Staff from Special Branch (unnamed)

‘Criminal profilers’ (unnamed - attached to unnamed government security departments)

Government-funded private security firms

Kenneth Farrow from Control Risks Group

Michael Keenan from Control Risks Group

Staff from government-supported private crisis psychology group

Alan Pike, Head of Yorkshire-based Centre for Crisis Psychology (CCP) (arrived 4 May)

Martin Alderton, Colleague of Alan Pike from CCP (arrived 5 May)

Public Relations Consultants

Michael Frolich, Head of Resonate, subsidiary of international PR company Bell Pottinger (already there by Monday 30 April)

Tricia Moon, Deputy Director of Resonate, (already there by Monday 30 April)

Alex Woolfall, Head of Risk for international PR company Bell Pottinger, arrived 4 May (helped to edit Gerry McCann’s photos before putting them on a disc for the PJ)

Lawyers

Staff from the recently-formed International Family Law Group (IFLG):

Michael Nicholls, barrister, arrived 11 May

Accompanied by a ‘paralegal’ from Leicestershire, arrived 11 May

There are references to other government lawyers having arrived

Top staff from Mark Warner (company that organised the holiday)

David Hopkins, Managing Director of Mark Warner

One of his senior colleagues

Interpreters

Robert Murat became the initial main interpreter for the Portuguese Police on 4 May. He had already flown out from England on 1 May. He was recommended by British Consul Robert Henderson

Religious Organisations

Rev. Haynes and Susan Hubbard mysteriously arrived in Praia da Luz from Canada on Sunday 6 May, to take up an appointment as the Anglican Minister in Praia da Luz. The Hubbards rapidly became very close friends of the McCanns

Others

‘Hugh’ – Kate in her book says he would only identify himself as ‘Hugh’, he was brought in by Control Risks Group and said he was ‘a former intelligence officer, now a kidnap negotiator and counsellor’. He attended meeting with the lawyers from IFLG

Update: 'Hugh' is Hugh Lohan
Hugh Lohan specialised in security and intelligence during his 30 years in the British army. On leaving, he worked in the defence and aviation industry before joining Control Risks as an adviser on kidnap and extortion, and subsequently as an external consultant.
http://esjg.co.uk/who-we-are/

OTHER APPOINTMENTS

Clarence Mitchell, Head of the government’s Media Monitoring Unit: According to the reply to a Freedom of Information request, he was appointed on Sunday 6 May to head up the government’s PR support for the McCanns, but he did not travel to Portugal until 22 May 2007

The government set up a very high-powered liaison committee on Tuesday 8 May under the Chairmanship of Matt Baggott, Leicestershire Police Chief Constable. It consisted of representatives from a wide variety of government departments and agencies. The government has refused to answer FoIAct questions about who those agencies were.

Government Ministers Gordon Brown (Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Margaret Beckett (Foreign Secretary) spoke to Gerry McCann in the first week. Tony Blair, Prime Minister, did so later.

And +£11M........

by Doug D 14.11.18 9:02

Whose side is Tracey really on?

The McCanns have around £4million saved in a public fund to help find their daughter. But they fear this could be swallowed up in legal fees and a potential libel payout to former Portuguese officer Gonçalo Amaral in their ongoing and bitter court battle.

There is a healthy balance of nearly £750,000 sitting in the Find Maddie Fund. The stash of cash - made up mainly of public donations and profits from Kate's bestseller book - has grown over the past financial year, according to the latest accounts.

If, and I suspect it’s a big if, this £4m, really exists, how have the Mc’s managed to squirrel it away outside of the fund? Fraud Office please take notice!

There has certainly been no evidence of such volumes of cash passing through, although we have been very limited in what we have seen.

‘Saved in a public fund’ – so we should be able to see it then?

Why on earth would ‘our Trace’ mention this at all, when there is absolutely no need to and people were reasonably happy that there was only about £750k left?

Latest published accounts (March 2017) show cash £211k and investments, which we now know to be stocks and shares, of £582k, so totaling £793, with creditors of £65k, so a net figure of £728k. (This figure has ‘grown’ from £714k the previous year if that is what she is talking about)

by **Tony Bennett** 14.11.18 9:16

I am wondering if the Guinness Book of Records should be made aware of this development?

Already I think that McCanns v Goncalo Amaral might count as the longest-running libel trial in world history.

It began with an application in the Lisbon Civil Court June 2009 and is still running, as I believe the McCanns are still withholding payments ordered to be made to Amaral, pending their outcome of their application to the European Court of Human Rights. So...NINE YEARS & FIVE MONTHS so far.

Is Operation Grange now the UK's longest-ever-running live investigation?

With £150,000 more now committed for a further 6 months, that will take us up to 13 May 2019.

By then, Operation Grange will have been running for EIGHT YEARS & ONE DAY.

In addition I think Operation Grange may hold the world record for the number of mobile 'phone records checked in an investigation.

IIRC this was over 11,000 from 31 countries.

by Rogue-a-Tory 14.11.18 9:43

Verdi wrote:
Mr Edgar believes the case is 'solvable' and maintains there are 'people out there who know what happened'.

Last year Mr Edgar claimed the kidnapper was being protected

Occasionally Mr Edgar give a truthful soundbite amongst the mountains of guff he spouts

by sallypelt 14.11.18 10:44

Rogue-a-Tory wrote:
Verdi wrote:
Mr Edgar believes the case is 'solvable' and maintains there are 'people out there who know what happened'.

Last year Mr Edgar claimed the kidnapper was being protected
Occasionally Mr Edgar give a truthful soundbite amongst the mountains of guff he spouts

Mr Edgar believes the case is 'solvable' and maintains there are 'people out there who know what happened'.

C'mon! This has GOT to be worth the £11 million spent, so far. Us mortals would NEVER have thought that this case is "solvable" OR that there are people who "KNOW what happened".

laughat

by **Jill Havern** 14.11.18 11:37

The reason people are angry about the latest development in the Madeleine McCann case.

Madeleine McCann’s mysterious disappearance has barely left headlines for over a decade.
The world has remained hooked by the story of the wide-eyed little girl who vanished without a trace from a Portuguese hotel room in 2007.
But now, in light of the announcement that another load of funding will be allocated to the ongoing investigation, Twitter users have expressed outrage that one missing children’s case has seemingly held priority for the UK government amid countless under-funded issues plaguing the country.
The last time Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann saw their three-year-old daughter was in a hotel room while on a family holiday in Praia da Luz, just before they went out for dinner with friends nearby.
There has never been a credible sighting of Madeleine since.
Police have explored numerous theories about her disappearance, including that Madeleine was abducted, wandered away from her room alone, or died in the apartment.

In the years since the tragedy, the McCann family has never lost hope that their daughter, who would have turned 15 in May, is still alive.
Nor has the UK Home Office, which has dedicated £11.75 million (approx $21 million) to the investigation - dubbed Operation Grange, to date.
The 'mystery witness' in the Madeleine McCann case. Post continues after video...

Now, it has been announced the Home Office will pour an extra £150,000 (approx $270,000) into the investigation fund which ran out at the end of September.
A Home Office spokesperson told Sky News the money would go towards continuing inquiries.
"We have confirmed that Special Grant funding of £150,000 will be provided to the Metropolitan Police Service for the six-month period to 31 March 2019," the spokesperson said.

But while Madeleine's case has baffled the world and tugged on heartstrings - her photo splashed across international headlines for 11 years since the story broke, there has been uproar in light of this latest development.
Social media users have criticised the use of the money, which comes from special grant funding available to police forces when they face exceptional costs.
Many have flagged social issues including homelessness, healthcare and education, as well as the aftermath of the Grenfell Towers tragedy, as more deserving:

Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News 162

Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News 244

Operation Grange to receive extra £150k - Sky News 327

Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, have been vocal public advocates in the search for their daughter, using social media and television appearances to plead for support in their mission.

Just last month, Gerry McCann gave a rare and heart-wrenching interview discussing the pain immediately after she went missing.
“We started searching more widely really quickly and then very quickly raised the alarm,” he said in an interview with BBC Radio 4.
“You’re in this quiet little holiday resort — that seemed idyllic — out of season and I certainly didn’t speak Portuguese so I asked (our friend) Matt to go to reception and ask them to call the police,” he added.

Gerry McCann revealed that as they searched for her he couldn’t help but dread the worst.
“I couldn’t get the darkest thoughts out of our minds, that somebody had taken her and abused her,” he said in the interview.
“I felt that every moment that we couldn’t find her was worse.
“I remember being slumped on the floor and starting to call some of my family members and just saying, ‘Pray for her’,” he added.
Last year, Kate McCann penned an emotional letter for the Telegraph, in which she revealed she still buys Christmas presents for her little girl.
“The presents I buy for her usually have to jump out at me,” McCann wrote. “She would be a teenager now so I always try and pick something that would be suitable and enjoyable for her no matter what age she is when she gets to open them.
“In my head I guess I just want everything for be right for her when she comes back home. The loft is filled with the presents I have bought for Madeleine and her wardrobe, too.”
The McCann's have two other children - 13-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

https://www.mamamia.com.au/madeleine-mccann-news-investigation/

by Verdi 14.11.18 11:37

NickE wrote:If we put this in a perspective.
Here is what FCO can and can not do for you if you are detained as a British nationals in Portugal.

Sincere thanks NickE for taking the trouble to put this into perspective, with a nice little bit of work to highlight the irregular diplomatic proceedings as regards the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

I've been banging on about this for years, what the Foreign and Commonwealth Office can and can't do through the auspices of their Embassy and Consular representatives. I might add, the brief has been updated considerably (or should I say become more complex) since 2007, foreign travel being so much more hazardous this day and age but the basics remain the same.

None so blind as they who do not wish to see!

2thumbs

by Verdi 14.11.18 11:48

Hey now, here's a radical idea worthy of consideration.

The McCanns live on tenterhooks from one six months to the next, so say their spokesperson in chief, distraught by the prospect of Operation Grange coming to an end and the search for Madeleine goes with it.

Here's my suggestion .... why not a) hand your stash of £4,000,000 + £750,000 over to the Metropolitan police so they can continue their investigation for quite a few more six month periods or b) use the hoard you've stashed away to search for Madeleine yourselves?

Something, I hasten to add, you have so far failed to do in any way shape or form. Please note: Dodgy private detectives do not qualify !!!