The Metropolitan Police have announced that they reduced the number of U.K. investigators involved in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from 29 to only four officers. The police made the decision since most of the work has already been completed.
The number of investigators has been cut because while no conclusion has been reached, they are now "small number of focused lines of inquiry," according to BBC News.
Operation Grange began in 2011 and had gone through the extensive efforts of obtaining 1,338 statements and 1,27 exhibits. "While there remain lines of inquiry to follow, the vast majority of the work by Operation Grange has been completed," a Metropolitan Police spokesman said, according to The Telegraph.
Despite the cut in the number of investigators, the Home Office still granted the team another £2 million (over $3 million) to pursue the search for the missing girl until April next year.
We would like to thank all the staff from Operation Grange for the meticulous and painstaking work that they have...
Posted by Official Find Madeleine Campaign on Wednesday, October 28, 2015
The parents have received the news, saying they "fully understand" what happened and are still "hopeful" Madeleine would be found. The police also said the parents are "reassured that the investigation to find Madeleine has been significantly progressed and the MPS has a much clearer picture of the events in Praia da Luz leading up to Madeleine's abduction in 2007," according to NBC News.
The remaining four officers who will continue the investigation will be headed by DCI Nicola Wall, who currently leads the investigation team.
Madeleine disappeared a week before her fourth birthday while on vacation in Praia da Luz, a resort in Portugal. She was believed to have been abducted, and the investigation is still ongoing.
