Madeleine McCann: Police Given Fresh Funds To Probe ‘Important’ New Lead

Investigators at Scotland Yard have been given more money to probe a new lead in the case of missing child Madeleine McCann. Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from her bedroom at a Praia de Luz resort in the Algarve on May 3, 2007. Today The Sun reports that detectives are following a tip that the child was snatched by European traffickers stealing to order after they took pictures of her playing with her family on the beach. While sources admit the latest investigation is a 'last throw of the dice', it has sparked fresh hope that Madeleine, who would now be thirteen years old, could still be found alive. Retired Yard detective Colin Sutton told the newspaper that if extra money has been allocated to the team, “there must be something worthwhile” in the tip. Earlier this year, Detective Chief Superintendent Mick Duthie of Scotland Yard's Homicide and Major Crime Command spoke out to say that, despite the team being cut from 30 people to just four, there is "always a possibility" Madeleine will be returned to her parents Gerry and Kate. Meanwhile Madeleine's distraught mother Kate McCann believes her daughter is still in Portugal. Speaking to a newspaper a number of months ago, Kate said she feels that the little girl wasn't taken far:

“That’s where she last was and I don’t think she’s been taken a million miles from there." she said. "I’ve always said Praia da Luz is the place where I feel closest to her.”

Nine years and thousands of 'sightings' later, police are no closer to finding the child.