£1m spent in hunt for Madeleine

8:35pm Saturday 6th September 2008

More than £1 million has been spent hunting for missing Madeleine McCann, her parents have revealed.

Kate and Gerry McCann said that in less than a year the Find Madeleine fund had paid £1 million to Spain's Metodo 3 detective agency to search for her.

And the pair told the Daily Mirror they will spend whatever it takes to uncover the truth.

Mrs McCann, 40, told the newspaper: "We can't set a limit. A child does not have a price. We will pay what we have to. It just takes one person to make the one phone call we so hope for. We know she was abducted and believe someone knows or suspects something.

"We want to find her alive. But if she is dead we want to know. There's nothing in the police report that indicates anything bad has happened to her."

The two doctors, from Rothley, Leicestershire, also spoke of their bitterness at having ever been made suspects in the case.

Mrs McCann strongly condemned detective Goncalo Amaral, who led the hunt and later wrote a book on the case, labelling his behaviour "a disgrace".

Mr McCann, 40, said: "We were investigated in the most intimate detail. My plan was to stay quiet and not answer. But the first question was, 'Are you involved in the disappearance of your daughter?' It was nonsense and I decided to respond."

Mr McCann again expressed his anguish at leaving Madeleine alone with twins Sean and Amelie as they went for dinner in Portugal's Praia da Luz resort.

But he said the couple were "not negligent" but "profoundly regret" what happened.

Editor's Choice