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| Photo:
MARIO CRUZ/EPA |
Investigations into the
controversial disappearance of
Madeleine McCann seem set to
continue in the new year at high
cost but dubious worth.
The Metropolitan Police Service
investigation codenamed Operation
Grange has so far cost £12.5 million
but has it come up with any
substantive evidence to show what
happened to Madeleine? The Met is
not saying.
“We have not given a running
commentary on the investigation,
have not discussed ongoing lines of
the investigation and the enquiry
has not reached a conclusion,” a
spokesperson reiterated at the
weekend, adding that “there are
still focused lines of investigation
to be pursued.”
In a Christmas message expressing
“new energy, new opportunities and
new hope,” Kate and Gerry McCann
thanked the Met for the “progress”
made over the year, but they are
reportedly poised to use the
£750,000 left in their Find
Madeleine fund to hire a new team of
private detectives when the
Operation Grange investigation
ends.
The Met disclosed in October it was
scaling down the Operation Grange
team from 29 full-time officers to
just four.
In its early review work starting in
2011, they collated more than 40,000
documents from UK and foreign law
enforcement agencies as well as
various private investigation
companies.
Some of this had to be translated
into English, facts had to be
cross-referred and diligently
analysed in the search for new lines
of inquiry before the review was
turned into a full-scale
investigation in mid-2012.
Since then the Operation Grange team
say they have raised 7,154 actions
and identified 560 lines of enquiry,
taken 1,338 statements and collected
1,027 exhibits. More than 30
international requests have been
sent to various countries asking for
work to be undertaken on behalf of
the Met.
Officers have investigated more than
60 persons of interest, considered
650 sex offenders and looked into
reports of 8,685 potential sightings
of Madeleine around the world.
That all seems clear enough, but to
many sceptics who have followed the
case closely it is all a show, a
sham, a cover-up, a whitewash, a
conspiracy to hide the truth. They
allege the claim that Madeleine was
abducted, which her parents have
always been adamant about and which
the police and mainstream press in
the UK seem to accept, is a
fabrication.
The Met, of course, will have none
of it. Poring through a vast wealth
of information and theories in the
extraordinary circumstances of
investigating a missing child years
later in another country was always
going to be an immense task and
required a full team of 29 staff
working on it, is the official view.
“While there remain lines of enquiry
to follow, the vast majority of the
work by Operation Grange has been
completed,” according to the Met.
The team now consists of a detective
sergeant and three detective
constables who have been working on
the case for a long time. They will
continue to be overseen by Detective
Chief Inspector Nicola Wall.
Officers will deploy to Portugal if
required to do so.
The Met’s Assistant Commissioner
Mark Rowley has stated that every
possible measure is being taken to
find out what happened to Madeleine.
“We still have very definite lines
to pursue which is why we are
keeping a dedicated team of officers
working on the case.
“The Portuguese police remain the
lead investigators and our team will
continue to support their inquiry.
They have extended every courtesy to
Operation Grange and we maintain a
close working relationship. I know
they remain fully committed to
investigating Madeleine's
disappearance with support from the
Metropolitan Police.”
The willingness of Madeleine’s
parents to go private again begs the
question of how any latter-day team
of private detectives could hope to
solve a case that seems to have
stumped not only Operation Grange,
but two lengthy investigations by
the Portuguese judicial police and
expensive earlier probes by three
previous teams of private
detectives.
An unnamed source quoted by in the
British press shortly before
Christmas said: “We don't know
exactly when Operation Grange will
end but while it continues it has
the finest technology and analysts.”
The source added poignantly:
“Private investigations are
expensive and do not have anything
like the range and capabilities
available to the Yard.”
The Operation Grange enquiry may
close in a few months by which time
another landmark in this costly case
will probably have been reached. A
ruling could come at any time now on
former detective Gonçalo Amaral’s
appeal against the outcome of the
civil action brought against him by
Kate and Gerry McCann
The McCanns were awarded €500,000
plus interest in damages over his
book, Maddie, the Truth of the Lie.
If the McCanns lose the appeal, it
is thought they may counter-appeal.
As to what really happened to
Madeleine in Praia da Luz in May
2007, with the passing of each year
we seem no closer to learning the
whole truth.
By LEN PORT
Len Port is a journalist and author based in the Algarve.
Follow Len’s reflections on current
affairs in Portugal on his blog:
algarvenewswatch.blogspot.pt
