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The
McCanns discussed the case with the home secretary in August |
The privately-funded investigation into the disappearance
of
Madeleine
McCann is at risk of running out of money, her parents have
said.
Speaking three-and-a-half years after his daughter went
missing on holiday in the Algarve, Gerry McCann said the cash "won't
last anything like a year".
It comes as the McCanns launch a petition calling for a
full review of the case by the UK and Portugal.
The Home Office said it would ensure "everything
feasible" was being done.
Madeleine was three when she went missing from a resort
in
Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007. The Portuguese police investigation was supported by
British officers but the inquiry was formally closed in July 2008.
Gerry and Kate McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, set up the Find Madeleine
campaign. The millions of pounds raised have been spent on
private
investigators who have interviewed hundreds of
witnesses and logged more than 16,000 calls and e-mails.
Mr McCann told the BBC: "We always have to keep an eye on
the
funds
to make sure we are capable of supporting the investigation
and it's so important that there's someone there at the end of a phone
line, checking e-mails and speaking to people who come forward.
"We're the only people who pay for that right now and
it's through donations that we've a managed to do that."
He said: "At the current rate it won't last anything like
a year but we have to look at other fundraising aspects and it is very
important to us that we are able to maintain a search".
The Sun
reports that the fund, which once peaked at ?2m, is now down
to ?300,000, and the Daily Mirror estimates that it will run out by
spring 2011.
Co-operation needed
Even so, Mr McCann added that fundraising was a
"secondary objective" and urged members of the public to sign the online
petition to encourage the UK government to take action to identify areas
for further investigation
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Madeleine McCann disappeared while on a family holiday in
2007 |
In an open letter launching the petition, the couple ask
why they still do not have access to all the information gathered by
Portuguese police, and say it was "incredible" there has been no formal
review of the inquiry.
"We are certainly frustrated," Mr McCann said.
"It's been such a long time and we have been asking over
and over again for the authorities to do more. And they are not
practically doing anything and haven't been for well over two years, and
I don't think its right for us to be responsible for the continued
investigation into our own daughter's disappearance."
Mrs McCann said: "It's been over two years now since
anybody other than ourselves have looked for Madeleine and obviously our
own team has limitations because they can't go knocking on people's
doors. They can't make people speak to them.
"We also know there is information in several regions,
lying on different desks, different databases that hasn't been put
together. So two pieces might slot together and give you a result. We
could be that much closer to finding Madeleine, but we need
co-operation."
The McCanns stressed they had not given up on Madeleine
being found alive and cited the case of
Jaycee Dugard being found in
California, 18 years after she was kidnapped.
"When a young child has been taken, there's more chance
they have been taken to be kept and there's absolutely no evidence
Madeleine has been seriously harmed and without that we've got to
believe we can still find her," Mr McCann said.
The couple's meeting with Home Secretary
Theresa May
in August came after earlier discussions with former home secretaries
Alan Johnson and Jacqui Smith.
A Home Office spokesman said: "The Home Secretary has met
Kate and Gerry McCann and is deeply sympathetic to their situation.
"The government wants to ensure that everything feasible
is being done to progress the search for Madeleine. The British
authorities will maintain a dialogue with the Portuguese and continue to
liaise with Madeleine's family on any developments." |
