PORTUGUESE police say they have no plans to further search the scrubland
where a report said the body of missing British girl Madeleine McCann could be
buried.
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf published an
anonymous letter today saying the four-year-old's
body could be found “under branches or stones” 15km from the Algarve resort
where she disappeared from her bedroom on May 3.
Seven police searched the area the report mentioned yesterday.
“For now, we have no concrete plans to enter the terrain (again),” police chief
inspector Olegario de Sousa said today.
“Like all the leads we receive, we will check it out thoroughly.”
A spokesman for the local GNR police, which handles
day-to-day policing, said they had received no request from the investigative
police, who are in charge of the investigation, for help or to bring sniffer
dogs to the area.
Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Madeleine's parents, said police were
examining the letter to verify whether it was authentic.
The police have received countless leads in their investigation, including a
possible sighting of Madeleine in Morocco, but have so far made no
arrests and have identified only one suspect in their case.
Insp De Sousa said a group of journalists had hired
sniffer dogs to search the area today.
“These people are people who have no police training and who are walking around
the bush looking for a scoop,” he said.
Madeleine disappeared from her bed while her parents dined at a nearby
restaurant in the small Praia da Luz Algarve resort.
Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, have launched a high-profile campaign to
draw attention to her disappearance, including meeting with the Pope in Rome and winning support
from personalities such as David Beckham.
Gerry McCann said in the diary he publishes online (www.findmadeleine.com) he
was upset by De Telegraaf publishing the
letter, saying it should have been passed on to Portuguese police before
publication.
“We were extremely disappointed in the publication of the anonymous letter in
the Telegraaf claiming to know where Madeleine
is buried,” he wrote. |