18 years have passed since a young girl disappeared on holiday with her family in Portugal. Madeleine McCann was taken from her bed while her parents were eating out with friends at a local restaurant.

Even though almost 2 decades have gone by since the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, that doesn’t mean that the effort to find out what happened is over. In fact, the Home Office is still sending thousands of pounds over to help with the investigation.

The Metropolitan Police have reportedly just received £108,000 as a boost for the 2025/26 fiscal year. When you add up everything that was spent previously, more than £13 million has gone toward the investigation. If found, she would now be 21 years old.

Despite the fact that it was a positive move for the family, social media was not quite so happy about it.

One person wrote: “Outrageous!!! This is a real slap in the face for all the other missing persons families out there who haven’t had one ounce of this case’s attention or money spent to find their missing loved ones. It’s disgraceful. There were others who echoed the sentiment, saying that this level of support is not provided for all families with missing children.

The young girl was only three years old when she disappeared from the family’s apartment in Praia da Luz, Lagos. The parents were only yards away dining with friends at a local restaurant.

There have been some suspects over the years, including Christian Brückner, who was living near the area in a farmhouse at the time. That was in 2020 when he was considered the prime suspect, as he had broken into properties at the same resort. There haven’t been any formal murder or abduction charges filed as of yet. Brückner is already serving a seven-year prison sentence for a different crime.

To make matters worse, others have claimed to be the little girl, including a woman named Julia Wandelt. She claimed to be the little girl all grown up but has been charged with stalking since then.