McCanns 'to sack Spanish private detective firm' as Madeleine fund runs dry

Spanish agency Metodo 3 has cost the dwindling Find Madeleine fund £50,000 a month since September, but has so far failed to find any concrete evidence about what happened to the girl.

Its director Francisco Marco also angered the McCanns with a series of public boasts that he knew where Madeleine was and would find her within five months.

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The agency's six-month contract is up for renewal in March and a source said: "We will carry on the search for Madeleine, but not necessarily with Metodo 3.

"We are stuck with them to the end of the contracted period. The question of whether it is renewed or not has still to be decided.

"They have faced not having their contract renewed every since Francisco shot his mouth off... It was made clear what they were doing was foolish and unhelpful."

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The fund's directors discussed the contract on Wednesday and agreed to review it. They have not ruled out sacking the firm, which is the not-for-profit company's biggest single expense.

The detective agency, based in Barcelona, operates a hotline for information and has followed up a number of new leads and sightings of Madeleine with investigators on the ground in Portugal, Spain and Morocco. McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "We were unhappy with some of the public comments made and that was made very clear to Metodo 3 and since then Francisco has made no further comments."

He said the Find Madeleine board members and the McCanns' multi-millionaire backer, double glazing tycoon Brian Kennedy, would meet to discuss the contract in February.

"It is a matter for the bankers and the fund to make the final decision," he said.

"We are paying Metodo 3 £50,000 a month so of course it is a subject of debate. The decision is as much with Brian as it is with the fund, which pays for Metodo 3's involvement."

The Find Madeleine fund has raised £1.2million in total but is now down to £570,000 and, on projected spending, will fall to £346,000 by March and run out by June.