New funds for the Maddie investigations: a glimmer of hope?

New funds for the Maddie investigations: a glimmer of hope?

Vienna, Österreich - The investigation in the case of the disappeared Madeleine McCann receives new financial support in Great Britain. As vienna.at reports, additional 108,000 pounds flow into the so-called "operation large" for this and the coming year. This case has caused a large media coverage since Madeleine disappeared in May 2007 during a vacation in Portugal.

Since the beginning of the investigation, over 13.2 million pounds have been invested in the search. Chief investigator Mark Cranwell emphasizes that support for the family of Madeleine is of great importance. In recent years, the focus has been increasingly on the German sex offender Christian B., who is suspected of murdering the girl. He is currently in Germany because of the rape of a 72-year-old American in Praia da Luz.

The state of the investigation

Although Christian B. is the main suspect, there is no charge against him in the Madeleine McCann case. The presumption of innocence continues and the case remains of great public interest, since Madeleine's circumstances are still unclear.

The investigation in the Madeleine McCann case is a warning example of the complexity and the challenges in dealing with missing people. In Germany, such support is guaranteed in the processing of such cases by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). The BKA, which was founded in 1951, has the task of looking for missing people and supporting people in need of help.

missing person in Germany

A person is considered missing in Germany if they are inexplicably absent from their whereabouts and is assumed to have a danger to life or life. This applies in particular to minors whose protection is in the foreground. In the case of missing minors, a danger is fundamentally assumed, which means that they are taken into state care until return to the custody is possible.

The BKA records missing persons in the police information system (inpol) in order to enable comprehensive search. In 2025, around 9,420 missing cases were registered in Germany. 200 to 300 new searches are initiated every day, with about 50 % of the cases to be clarified within the first week. Particular attention also applies to unaccompanied minor refugees, of which around 4,300 were reported in 2024.

The case of Madeleine McCann remains an example of fear and the discomfort that is connected with the search for missing persons, and shows the importance of international cooperation and substantial financial commitment to clarify such tragic cases.