Last Updated: Thursday, 14 June 2007, 15:19 GMT 16:19 UK

Letter publication angers McCanns

The search for Madeleine has been taken to Spain and Morocco The parents of four-year-old Madeleine McCann have condemned the decision by a Dutch newspaper to publish a letter claiming to know where her body is. On his internet blog, her father said the letter and accompanying map should have been properly examined first. Gerry McCann said the publication was "irresponsible" and "cruel" journalism. Police are expected to search scrubland after the letter claimed Madeleine was buried nine miles from the Algarve resort where she was last seen. Amsterdam-based De Telegraaf declined to comment on Mr McCann's criticisms. The Dutch newspaper received the letter on Monday and passed it on to police, delaying publication of the information until Wednesday. 'Upsetting' The letter identifies an area of scrubland 9.3 miles (15km) from where Madeleine vanished six weeks ago. She was last seen in Praia da Luz on 3 May. Mr McCann said: "We were extremely disappointed in the publication of the anonymous letter in The Telegraaf claiming to know where Madeleine is buried. "Although all information will be taken seriously, we were very upset that the credibility of this letter had not been examined and, more importantly, [it was] published before the Portuguese police had an opportunity to investigate the claim, and search the area if appropriate without massive media attention. "We feel strongly that this was an irresponsible piece of journalism and, even if it were true, is insensitive and cruel. "One can imagine how upsetting it is for Kate and I to hear of such claims through the media and if every piece of information was published like this there would be nothing else in the newspapers." Around eight plain-clothed police officers visited the village of Arao, which is 15km from Praia da Luz, on Wednesday evening. There were no signs of any ground searches taking place on Thursday morning. Locals say the country road that police stopped at on Wednesday is in an area which has not been searched before, said BBC correspondent Alison Roberts. According to De Telegraaf, the Madeleine letter says the four-year-old, of Rothley, Leicestershire, is buried near a dirt track north of Odiaxere in the Algarve. Ch Insp Olegario de Sousa confirmed Portuguese police were aware of the map and were doing "everything necessary". He said: "There have been exchanges between Dutch police and us. "We are checking the information like we check everything in this case for importance." Similarities investigated Dutch police are studying similarities between the new letter and one received last year by De Telegraaf pointing to the whereabouts of Belgian step-sisters Stacey Lemmens, seven, and Nathalie Mahy, 10. The Belgian girls were murdered in June 2006 after they disappearing from Liege. On the day the letter was received, police found their bodies at the spot indicated on an enclosed map. A convicted paedophile, Abdullah Ait Oud, is now on remand awaiting trial for murder. It is believed Madeleine was abducted from a holiday apartment while her parents ate at a nearby restaurant.

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McCanns blast newspaper over tip off

By Richard Edwards in Odiaxere, Algarve

Letter claims Madeleine is 'buried under rocks' Gerry McCann today strongly condemned the “insensitive and cruel�?handling of an anonymous tip off claiming to know where his daughter Madeleine was buried. The letter was sent to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf on Monday and claimed the four-year-old was buried in scrubland, "under branches and rocks", nine miles from where Madeleine was abducted. Journalists from the newspaper trawled the land for two days before passing the information on to Portuguese police and Mr and Mrs McCann yesterday. They had already published the story on their website. Mr McCann lashed out at De Telegraaf today. Writing in his blog on the official findmadeleine.com website, he said: “We were extremely disappointed in the publication of the anonymous letter in The Telegraaf claiming to know where Madeleine is buried. “Although all information will be taken seriously, we were very upset that the credibility of this letter had not been examined and, more importantly, published before the Portuguese police had an opportunity to investigate the claim, and search the area if appropriate without massive media attention. “We feel strongly that this was an irresponsible piece of journalism and even if it were true it is insensitive and cruel. “One can imagine how upsetting it is for Kate and I to hear of such claims through the media and if every piece of information was published like this there would be nothing else in the newspapers.�? The anonymous letter included a map which pinpointed a dirt track in an area near Odiaxere, north east of Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was kidnapped from her bedroom six weeks ago. Portuguese police chiefs visited the area yesterday and took photographs of the surrounds as they attempted to pinpoint the area the letter and maps were referring to. They were around four miles from the village of Odiaxere, north of the main highway, the Via Do Infante. Police spokesman Olegario Sousa said the map, which includes a large cross marking the spot Madeleine is allegedly buried, is “a bit vague�? He added: “It is not easy to discover the place where the body is alleged to be.�? It is believed sniffer dogs may be used to scour the scrubland but by 11.30am today there was still no police presence. The only people in the area were journalists. Although police are following up the lead and taking it seriously, they said it was only one of hundred of tip offs they have received, including many from clairvoyants. It is believed the tip off may have come from the same anonymous source who predicted where the bodies of two murdered children would be found in Belgium last year. The handwriting on the letter is said to be similar to that on a map received by the same newspaper, De Telegraaf, in June 2006, which correctly predicted the shallow graves of Belgian girls Nathalie Mahy, 10, and Stacey Lemmens, seven, who had disappeared while playing in front of a cafe in Liege. A Moroccan man is awaiting trial for the murder but the anonymous source was never traced by police.

This is London

Hunt for Madeleine: Scrubland search called off

Last updated at 17:22pm on 15.06.07

The parents of Madeleine McCann were "relieved" today after Portuguese police called a halt to a major search for her body.

Kate and Gerry McCann were told shortly after 10am today that the search of scrubland close to the resort of Praia Da Luz had failed to find any trace of Madeleine.

Portuguese police officers with sniffer dogs carried out the fruitless search after a tip-off from a Dutch source.

Starting at dawn, they cordoned off the 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.

There have been other anonymous tips, but this one was acted on as the writer used phrases which mirrored those of a letter last year.

That letter pinpointed the spot where two missing Belgian girls were found dead.

Ch Insp Sousa 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.

The news comes as a video montage of the Madeleine set against Bryan Adams' hit song Everything I Do was released on the Find Madeleine website.

It shows a mixture of photos and video footage of her smiling and looking into the camera.

Earlier today Gerry McCann admitted that his faith would be "severely tested" if his daughter was not found safe and well.

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"If we don't get Madeleine back alive and well, I am sure our faith will be severely tested," he told The Tablet, a Catholic newspaper.

"At the end of it, we will still have our faith and we will also have comfort that Madeleine will be looked after.

"We haven't dwelt on that but I think that is what we will be left with.

"Our friends, our family, the Church have really rallied round. I think that's the key thing for me."

Mrs McCann, a part-time GP, said she had also wondered if her belief was strong enough: "I have felt guilty asking, 'Will this make or break my faith?'

"And yet at the same time you could argue that what's happened in the first place could make or break your faith and it hasn't.

"It's done the opposite. It has given us hope and strength."

The McCanns, who met at medical school in Glasgow and now live in Rothley, Leicestershire, said religion was not so important when they were younger, but had been strengthened by having children.

Now that their eldest child is missing, it has assumed an even greater importance.

The couple said they regularly use three Portuguese words - esperanca, forca, coragem (hope, strength and courage) - as comfort when they are going through low periods.

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 that prompted today's search was 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".