Madeleine 'body' search called off

Portuguese police officers with sniffer dogs carried out a fruitless search for the body of Madeleine McCann today after a tip-off from a Dutch source.

Starting at dawn, they cordoned off an area nine miles from where she was abducted in Praia da Luz.

For several hours, more than 30 Guarda Nacional Repulicana, 20 Policia Judiciara (PJ) and four specialist dogs combed the scrubland. But the search was called off later in the morning and the lead dismissed.

Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa from the PJ said: “The search has been carried out. This clue has been completely checked and the result was negative, so the investigation goes on.”

He said the dogs had not found anything significant and denied claims that officers had dug up land: “If the dogs do not pick up any sign then why would we dig? We would only dig if the dogs found anything relevant on the ground.”

Two police vans and seven unmarked police cars were involved in the search in the tiny village of Arao, north east of Praia da Luz.

Cordons were established on all roads surrounding the search area – a desolate hillside covered in trees and wasteland just north of the main road to Faro.

As the officers searched, unseasonal rain fell sporadically.

The formal search was carried out two days after Portuguese police were told about an anonymous letter alleging that Madeleine had been buried under rocks in the area.

The letter, which was accompanied by a map marked with a cross, was sent to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf on Monday.

Publishing the details on Wednesday, it said Madeleine’s body was lying hidden in scrubland just seven metres from the road.

A source close to Kate and Gerry McCann said the couple had been warned that the search would take place today.

He said police had already done a “cursory” check of the area and were going back to make sure they had not missed anything.

“They went back to double check before ruling it out completely,” he said. “Kate and Gerry will naturally be relieved to hear that Madeleine’s body has not been found where it was allegedly placed.

“They remain absolutely determined and full of hope that she will be found alive and well very soon.”

Today the two doctors from England carried on with their routine, dropping two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie at the local creche.

They looked sombre as they walked past the apartment where Madeleine was taken from her bed as she slept 43 days ago.

The anonymous letter sent to De Telegraaf was taken seriously because of its similarity to another note written to the same newspaper last year, which correctly identified the location of two dead Belgian girls.

The bodies of Stacy Lemmens, seven, and her step-sister, Nathalie Mahy, 10, were found in Liege 19 days after they disappeared while playing outside a bar.

Police were guided to the dumping ground by a letter and a map marked with a cross.

Yesterday, Dutch police said they were treating Monday’s letter seriously.

But Mr McCann condemned De Telegraaf for publishing the details before Portuguese police had a chance to investigate.

He described the move as both “insensitive and cruel”.