A police investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is expected to end later this year, according to reports.
The Operation Grange inquiry, which was set up by the Metropolitan Police in 2011, will reportedly wind down amid fears that the main suspect will not be charged.
Christian B, who was identified as a suspect by German authorities in 2020, is believed to be highly unlikely to face criminal charges in connection with Madeline’s disappearance.
The 45-year-old is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence in for raping a woman aged 72 in Portugal in 2005.
It is expected that the case could be reopened if any significant information comes to light in the future.
A source told The Sun : “The end of the road for Operation Grange is now in sight. The team’s work is expected to be completed by autumn.
“There are currently no plans to take the inquiry further.”
The total cost of Operation Grange is said to have cost approximately £13m since it launched in 2011 - four years after Madeleine was reported missing.
A request for more money was recently submitted to the Home Office, which would take the operation until the end of September.
Madeleine was reported missing after vanishing from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia De Luz, Portugal, in May 2007. She was aged just three at the time.
Her disappearance happened while she slept with her twin brother and sister in a bedroom as their parents dined with friends at a nearby tapas bar.
Parents Gerry and Kate McCann are reportedly aware of the impending closure of Operation Grange.
German prosecutors have claimed to have ‘concrete’ evidence against suspect Christian B.
They have also feared that the German has committed at least five other sex crimes - including the rape of a woman who was attacked in her apartment in 2004.
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