UK grants more funds, time to search girl missing in Portugal

The British Home Office has granted an additional funding to the police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the British girl who went missing in Portugal in 2007.

An extra 85,000 pound ($103,000) has been allotted to extend the missing girl's search for six more months between April and September, the British Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

Madeleine was a few weeks shy of her fourth birthday when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment on May 3, 2007, in the Portuguese town of Praia da Luz, Efe news reported.

London's Metropolitan Police have investigated various leads in a bid to find the child's whereabouts, while the girl's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, have vowed to "never give up" search for their missing daughter.

Until now, 11.1 million pound ($13.5 million) have been allocated to a case, which is nicknamed Operation Grange, and has drawn unprecedented media attention.

The search for Madeleine has gone on for years, and has included investigators from Britain and Portugal.

--IANS

soni/vt