Detectives are hunting a person of significance in the search for Madeleine McCann,(Picture: PA/PA Wire)

Detectives searching for a trace of Madeleine McCann have revealed they are searching for a ‘person of significance’.

The search is a ‘critical line of inquiry’ being investigated by officers from Scotland Yard who were recently given an extension until March to search for the missing four-year-old.

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Maddie has not been seen since she disappeared while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.

So far officers have spent more than £11.2 million in search for the four-year-old and the recent extension received £154,000 worth of extra funding.


According to The Times, it was believed the extra funding was granted for Operation Grange after it was revealed officers were searching for a ‘person of significance’.

More than £11 million has been spent on a search for Maddie (Picture: PA/PA Wire)

A source told the paper: ‘It is as much to rule out the person out of the inquiry as anything else.’



Maddie’s parents Kate and Gerry have said they are ‘extremely thankful’ for the extension.

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