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On Monday 11 June 2007, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf received two letters and and a map marked with a cross, that claimed
to detail where Madeleine's body was buried.
* THIS PAGE STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION *
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Kate and Gerry's exit from Berlin is delayed when the Portugese
police say they have received some information that they need to be consulted on. Gerry dismisses this as 'nothing of interest'
and it means they miss 2 TV programmes due to arriving in Amsterdam 3 hours late.
They do manage to find time to catch up briefly with a few
old friends from the time they spent in Amsterdam.
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After the scheduled meetings, Gerry catches up with 'a friend of
mine who was attending a medical conference in Amsterdam'. It is speculated that this was Matthew Oldfield who is believed
to have been attending the Euromedlab 2007 event in the city at that time. See figure on the left of picture below.
Kate and Gerry return to Praia da Luz in the early evening in time
to see the twins. They later drive to Lagos to attend a musical
concert in aid of Madeleiene.
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Click to enlarge |
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At lunchtime, Kate and Gerry head down to the beach to release 1,000
balloons carrying a picture of Madeleine, with a message in 5 different languages. Similar events take place in Manchester
and Madrid.
In the afternoon, they do an interview for BBC East Midlands TV.
At night, Kate and the family head off down to the church for the
regular Friday night vigil. Gerry stays in the apartment as he was 'just too shattered'.
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Gerry states in his blog that his morning is taken up with short
press interviews for Irish and British Sunday papers.
After this, Kate and Gerry head off to the beach at Sagres, on the
most South Western tip of Portugal, for a family lunch.
After returning from the beach Kate and Gerry give an interview
for Crimecall, the Irish version of Crimewatch.
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Kate and Gerry attend morning mass in Praia da Luz.
Late in the afternoon they drive up to Lisbon to catch a flight
to Casablanca, where embassy officials meet them at the start of their trip to Morocco.
Mobile phone call is alleged tracked by investigators, between Russell O'Brien and Gerry McCann.
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Kate and Gerry spend the day in Rabat with meetings, interviews
and a press conference, in what has now become a familiar routine.
An anonymous letter and map are received in the offices of The Telegraaf, a Dutch newspaper,
which claim to show where Madeleine is buried. The reporters immediately contact police and hand over the documents. A decision
is made not to publish the map or hand it over to third parties.
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Kate and Gerry spend another day in Rabat with further meetings
and a visit to the National Observatory for Children's Rights, where they were greeted by about 150 children waving posters
of Madeleine.
It is believed that Kate and Gerry were informed this afternoon (?) about the anonymous
letter sent to The Telegraaf claiming to show where Madeleine is buried.
Kate and Gerry do further interviews for ITV and Sky.
Letter analysed by Amsterdam police and PJ notified.
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In the morning, Kate and Gerry make a private visit to the Minister
for Religious Affairs.
The anonymous letter sent to The Telegraaf is published and the
McCanns express their disappointment that the contents of the letter have been published before being fully investigated by
Portuguese police.
Gerry says: "Now we have to go through everything as if it is a
certainty that Maddie is dumped. We are bombarded with questions from shocked friends, contacts and journalists from all over
the world. While it is all for nothing and we will not get our child back with this. We know that a big, international action
like ours has its shadow side and attracts idiots."
Map that was sent to The Telegraaf, claiming to show where Madeleine
is buried, is received by police in Portugal.
They return to Praia da Luz in the afternoon and attend the local
church for prayers at night.
Letter is now with PJ. McCanns told in afternoon?
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Initial searches of scrubland indicated by the letter to The Telegraaf
do not reveal anything unusual.
Kate and Gerry pick up Jon Corner from Faro airport who has helped
with publicity and the production of the 'Don't You Forget About Me' DVD. Gerry and this 'friend' Jon spend the rest of the
day discussing 'campaign strategies'.
Gerry's blog condemns publication of the letter.
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Police with sniffer dogs search scrubland 9 miles from Praia da Luz where Madeleine's body is reported to be but the
hunt is called off after only 4 hours.
Extensive search finds nothing but a towel.
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Kate and Gerry drop Jon Corner back at Faro airport and meet more
friends/family who have come over to see them and the twins.
After lunch, they all head off to the local zoo.
Gerry blogs: 'Relatively quiet day on the campaign front today'.
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Gerry flies from Faro into Gatwick, London for some meetings, believed
to be interviews to appoint a family spokesperson. On the flight, a passenger becomes ill and Gerry provides
aid. The passenger is subsequently taken to hospital in an ambulance.
Shortly after arriving in London, Gerry reports that his wallet
has been stolen. The incident happened as he withdrew cash from an ATM at Waterloo station in central London. However, other
reports suggest Gerry's wallet was stolen close to Tony Blair's Downing Street office.
Gerry's sister, Philomena McCann, said: "Gerry was at the bank to get some British currency, because he
didn't have any at all. He took out £100 from a hole in the wall machine, put it in his wallet then popped it in his back pocket. He bent down to put something in
his rucksack and some dirty animal had the wallet out of his back pocket. We don't care about the money, but we do care about getting the pictures
of Madeleine back."
However, Susan Healy
said: "Gerry is not clear how his wallet was stolen. He did not see them take it. It contained precious photographs which
have now been lost forever."
Gerry is then forced to delay the series of meetings he has planned
while he cancels his credit cards. The delay means the meetings run on late into the evening.
Clarence Mitchell said Gerry had attended a meeting at London's Foreign Office today, but could not immediately confirm
details of the theft. London police said they had no record of the theft being reported to officers.
Gerry records an interview for BBC World Service.
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De Telegraaf report, 13 June 2007, Google translation (original link)
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'Body of Maddie nearby apartment'
By the editors
Wed 13 2007, 05:30
AMSTERDAM - There is a major tip received regarding the disappearance of the British girl
Madeleine McCann (4). De Telegraaf has received an anonymous letter concerned with potentially important clues about
the disappearance of Madeleine.
Anonymous tips often come within the Telegraaf-editors, but this letter
is most likely from the same sender introduced last year quite accurately the location of the murdered Belgian girls Stacy
and Nathalie in Liege knew to be trained.
The envelope was received this week and contained two A4 printed
maps of a region in the Portuguese Algarve, 15 kilometres from the place where the girl was last seen. In a cross and two question marks on the map with the hand written letter: 'probable reference Madeleine'.
According to the letter it is possible to find the girl 'north
of the road or under branches and stones, ± 6 to 7 m from the road."
The phrase "probable reference'' was also used last year in the then tipbrief about the missing girls Stacy and Nathalie. That letter came to this newspaper on the day that the bodies of the girls
were found in a ditch along the railway line in Liege. The letter
was postmarked the day earlier at a bus made in Rotterdam.
That
envelope contained maps that were out of
www.routenet.nl.
The letter was transferred by De Telegraaf to the Amsterdam-Amstelland
police, which describes the information as iimportant'. The police
yesterday carried out technical research on the letter and will today or tomorrow hand it over to the investigation team
in Portugal.
Tipbrief
According politiewoordvoerder Rob van der Veen it is important new
information because of the strong similarities with the tipbrief on the Belgian kinderdrama. "With the tip of the Belgian verdwijningszaak in our mind sets us on this new letter sharply. Letters
of Saturday when very close, while the letter was sent before the girls were found. Therefore, we keep in mind that it is
an important letter."
Van der Veen, said the new letter is less professional looking.
"But that does not change the fact that every piece of information we
will carefully investigate and transfer to the research in Portugal."
The crosses on the map marking places where unpaved country access
to the hills behind that dor and leaving. This unpaved paths are not indicated on the maps, which makes it remarkable that the markings
were placed correctly.
Clarence Mitchell,
a British diplomat who acts as a spokesman on behalf of the family, would like to show mysterious letter to the parents of
the girl and rechercheteam. "We get a lot of tips, both by phone
and in writing, within the so-called paranormal gifted.
''These tips are
certainly not ignored, but ranked by their usability, as facts, names, locations and number plates of vehicles. The clearer
the information, the more interest we attach to it."
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Sky News report, 14 June 2007
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Sniffer Dogs To Be Used In New Search
Local translator Gaynor de Jesus has been following the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance. She spoke
with Sky's Eamonn Holmes by phone, describing the area police will be searching and their likely methods.
00:01:51
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Metro 13 June 2007 (link)
Maddy police investigate 'body under rocks' claim
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Portuguese police today started investigating an area just nine miles from where Madeleine McCann was abducted
after a tip off from a Dutch source.
An anonymous letter claiming the four-year-old lies buried under rocks in deserted scrubland was sent to
newspaper De Telegraaf and passed on to the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria.
It was thought to pinpoint an area north of Odiaxere, north east of Praia da Luz from where the girl was
snatched 41 days ago.
Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said the information was being taken seriously and "everything necessary"
was being done to validate the allegation.
"There have been exchanges between Dutch police and us," he said. "The information indicated
an area 15km from the place of the disappearance of the little child.
"It is not far from Praia da Luz. We are checking the information like we check everything in
this case for importance."
Asked if the search involved digging, he said: "If the information gives us a precise location
where we can look, we will do it."
According to De Telegraaf, the letter said Madeleine was buried "north of the road under branches
and rocks, around six to seven metres off the road" in a barren and deserted landscape.
A map came with the letter, with crosses marked on it.
The information is being taken seriously because it is thought to be similar to a letter sent
to the same newspaper last year, giving details of the rough location of the bodies of two missing Belgian girls.
Stacey Lemmens, seven, and her step-sister, Nathalie Mahy, 10, disappeared while playing outside
in Liege on June 10 last year.
Their bodies were found on June 29, a day after De Telegraaf received two maps marked with crosses
and handwritten text.
Today, a source at the newspaper said it had received two anonymous paragraphs of similar handwritten
text written in Dutch.
"We received an anonymous letter with a map in it marked with the spots where Madeleine was
buried.
"The police in Holland are taking it very seriously because it looks like the same sender as
one we received one year ago in another case of missing children.
"The letter said the girl should be found six to seven metres from a road. We have been there
but haven't seen anything but the area is so wide that you should be there with 100 searchers."
The map identified a dirt track road north of Odiaxere.
It is understood the Dutch newspaper did not publish the letter but passed it on to police authorities.
Details of the letter have also been posted on the Find Madeleine website.
Daily Mail 14 June 2007 (link)
Scrubland search for Madeleine called off
Father says Dutch paper was wrong to publish 'location' of missing girls body
Last updated at 16:17pm on 14th June 2007
The father of Madeleine McCann today condemned a Dutch newspaper as 'insensitive and cruel'
after it published a letter claiming to identify the spot where his daughter was buried.
The scrubland search for Madeleine was been called off, following no trace of the four-year-old.
Police officers searched the area after Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf published an anonymous letter, purporting
to contain the location of the girl's body.
Gerry McCann said he was upset by De Telegraaf publishing the letter, saying it should have been passed on
to Portuguese police before publication.
However, nothing was found and Portuguese police said today there were "no further plans" to revisit the area.
The letter received by the newspaper contained a claim that Madeleine's body could be found "under branches
or stones" nine miles from the Algarve resort where she disappeared from her bedroom on May 3.
Seven police officers searched the area mentioned in the letter, near the town of Odiaxere, on Wednesday.
"For now, we have no concrete plans to enter the terrain again," police chief inspector Olegario de Sousa.
A spokesman for the local GNR police, which handles day-to-day policing, said they had received no request
from the investigative police in charge of the hunt for help, or to bring sniffer dogs to the area.
Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Madeleine's parents, said police were continuing to examine 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.
Mr De Sousa said a group of journalists had hired sniffer dogs to search the area on Thursday.
"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.
The letter sent to De Telegraaf was being taken seriously as it bears similarities to a note received by the
same paper last year.
That note accurately described the location of the corpses of two missing Belgian girls.
The latest letter could have been written by a cruel hoaxer, a psychic with extraordinary powers or by Madeleine's
abductor.
In the Belgian case a man is in custody awaiting trial for the murder of Nathalie Mahy, 10, and Stacy Lemmens,
seven, but it has been suggested he may have had an accomplice who is still on the loose.
Mr McCann's close friend Paul McIntyre said: "Unless something conclusive is produced Gerry and Kate will
not give up hope. This development could be of great concern."
A Dutch police spokesman said: "We are awaiting instructions from the Portuguese and will start an inquiry
into finding the author if that is required."
MSN 14 June 2007 (link)
Disturbing letter points to Madeleine body
Thursday Jun 14 06:54 AEST
Portuguese police Wednesday said they would follow all leads on missing British girl Madeleine McCann, including
an a disturbing anonymous letter which claimed she was dead and supposedly showed where her body was hidden.
The information about McCann's death, sent to a Dutch newspaper, "has certainly come to the team of investigators,"
police spokesman Olegario de Sousa told the Lusa news agency, adding that this would be followed up "like all other leads."
"If the contents of the letter are sufficient for us to identify the area, we will check it out, as is the
case. We will not leave any leads" unchecked, he told tha Antena 1 radio station from Portimao in southern Portugal.
The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf said Wednesday it had received an anonymous letter giving details
of where to find the body of the four-year-old.
McCann vanished from the hotel room where she and her two-year-old twin siblings were sleeping in the southern
resort town of Praia da Luz on May 3 while her parents were dining at a nearby restaurant.
The daily said the letter was similar to one it received last year which had indicated with some accuracy
the site where two missing Belgian girls' bodies were discovered at the end of June.
De Telegraaf did not publish the letter, which it handed to Amsterdam police who described it as "important,"
the paper said.
The newspaper said the letter was accompanied by a map. It claimed the girl's body was "to the north of a
road, under trees and rocks about five to six metres from the road in an arid area."
Amsterdam police spokesman Gerard Crooland said copies of the letter had been sent to British and Dutch police
while Dutch investigators were analyzing the original in a laboratory.
Portugal's police chief Alipio Ribeiro meanwhile said his force was simultaneously "following up several leads,"
and "working very closely with the British police."
Meanwhile, a Norwegian woman who was holidaying in Marrakech when little "Maddie" disappeared in Portugal
on Wednesday reaffirmed sighting the child with a man in Morocco.
"I am certain it was she (Madeleine) that I saw at a service station in Marrakech," Mari Ollim, 45, who lives
in Fuengirola in southern Spain, said in an interview with the newspaper 24 Horas.
Ollim claims she saw the girl on May 9, six days after her disappearance, accompanied by a man in the shop
of the service station -- a sighting she first reported to authorities on May 22.
She described the little girl as "very sweet, blonde, with a pale face, who looked lost. Her eyes were green...
she was wearing blue pyjamas," she said.
The man with her was about 1.78 metres (five-foot eight inches) tall, thin, between 35 to 40 years old, with
short brown hair and a long face, and could have been English or German, according to Ollim.
She also claimed the girl asked the man when she could see her mother again and that he murmured to her "soon."
Ollim complained that when she returned to Spain and first heard about the girl disappearing from a resort
in southern Portugal, she had a hard time getting the attention of authorities in Spain and Britain, and finally was able
to send a written report to Portuguese police.
Kate and Gerry McCann have waged a media campaign to keep attention on their missing daughter and were in
Morocco on Monday and Tuesday.
Sky News 14 June 2007 (link)
Parents Blast Madeleine Burial Claims
Updated:22:28, Thursday June 14, 2007
The parents of Madeleine McCann have said they are deeply upset that Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf printed
claims their daughter was buried in scrubland before Portuguese police had even had a chance to investigate.
Gerry McCann said the Policia Judiciara had no time to consider the credibility of the information or consider
searching the area before the allegations were made public.
In his blog on the Find Madeleine website he wrote: "We feel strongly that this was an irresponsible piece
of journalism and even if it were true is insensitive and cruel."
He went on: "One can imagine how upsetting it is for Kate and I to hear of such claims."
Police and journalists were earlier spotted combing through an area where it is claimed the missing girl's
body may be buried.
The location, which is nine miles from where the four-year-old disappeared, was pinpointed
in a letter sent to a newspaper and passed on to Portuguese police.
Sniffer dogs have been brought in as the Policia Judiciaria consider whether to launch a full-scale search.
Police have alerted journalists to the fact that they may be "contaminating" the region, destroying eventual
evidence and clues.
But Clarence Mitchell, speaking on behalf of the girl's family, said: "There is no suggestion that this letter
is any more credible than any other source and the McCanns are not planning to say anything about it."
Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt said the parents were
very upset at reports of diggers moving in.
The anonymous note is believed to have come from the same person who sent a letter leading police to the bodies of two murdered
Belgian girls last year.
It claimed Madeleine's body lies buried under rocks and branches in deserted scrubland and was sent with a
map marking the location with a cross.
It is thought to have directed police up a dirt track to an area north of Odiaxere, north east of Praia da
Luz from where the girl was snatched 42 days ago.
According to De Telegraaf, the letter said Madeleine was buried "north of the road under branches and rocks,
around six to seven metres off the road" in a barren and deserted landscape.
On Wednesday, around eight plain clothed police officers visited Arao, a small village 15kms away from Praia
da Luz.
They spent an hour and 20 minutes looking at fields and the surrounding area ahead of possible searches.
The Sun 14 June 2007 (link)
Gerry: 'Insensitive and cruel'
By Online Reporter, 14 June 2007
THE distraught parents of missing Madeleine McCann have lashed out
at a newspaper which printed claims she was buried in scrubland apparently before Portuguese police had a chance
to investigate.
Gerry McCann said the Policia Judiciara had no time to consider the credibility of the information
or consider searching the area before the allegations were made public.
Describing the move as ''insensitive and cruel'', he said he and his wife Kate were deeply upset
by what had happened.
Speculation reached fever pitch after Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf revealed they had received
an anonymous letter claiming the four-year-old’s body was buried in scrubland nine miles from where she was abducted.
It was thought to pinpoint a remote area north of the village of Odiaxere, north east of Praia
da Luz where Madeleine was snatched 42 days ago.
Last night, police officers visited the area but there was no sign of a formal search this morning.
PJ spokesman Olegario Sousa said police were taking the claim seriously but insisted it was
one of a number of leads they were looking at.
He said they could only start searching an area if they had a precise location.
Mr McCann said they were told about the claim when they met police yesterday to be updated on
the investigation.
Writing his blog on the Find Madeleine website, he said they were ''extremely disappointed''
that the details had been released.
''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
is insensitive and cruel.''
He went on: ''One can imagine how upsetting it is for Kate and I to hear of such claims.''
As police continued to investigate, the couple left Praia da Luz for several hours to meet a
friend and discuss the search for Madeleine.
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MEN 13 June 2007 (link)
'Maddie body' claim probe
13/ 6/2007
MADELEINE McCann's parents were on tenterhooks today as Portuguese police investigated claims their daughter
lies buried only nine miles from where she was abducted.
An anonymous letter insisting the four-year-old's body is
hidden in deserted scrubland under rocks was sent to newspaper De Telegraaf and passed on to the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria.
It
was thought to pinpoint an area north of Odiaxere, north east of Praia da Luz from where the girl was snatched 41 days ago.
Chief
Inspector Olegario Sousa said the information was being taken seriously and "everything necessary" was being done to validate
the allegation.
But police have not started searching on the ground amid concerns the co-ordinates are not detailed
enough.
"There have been exchanges between Dutch police and us," said Mr Sousa. "The information indicated an area
15km from the place of the disappearance of the little child.
"It is not far from Praia da Luz. We are checking the
information like we check everything in this case for importance."
Upsetting
Asked if any search would involve digging, he said: "If the information gives us a precise location where
we can look, we will do it."
According to De Telegraaf, the letter said Madeleine was buried "north of the road under
branches and rocks, around six to seven metres off the road" in a barren and deserted landscape.
A map came with the
letter, with crosses marked on it.
A source close to the family said they were with Portuguese police when news of
the letter came through.
It was only when it was translated that they realised its contents.
"They found the
whole thing very upsetting," he said. "It is being taken as seriously as any other line of inquiry."
The letter is
thought to be similar to one sent to the same newspaper last year, giving details of the rough location of the bodies of two
missing Belgian girls.
Stacey Lemmens, seven, and her step-sister, Nathalie Mahy, 10, disappeared while playing outside
in Liege on June 10 last year.
Their bodies were found on June 29, a day after De Telegraaf received two maps marked
with crosses and hand-written text.
Today, a source at the newspaper said it had received two anonymous paragraphs
of similar hand-written text written in Dutch.
"We received an anonymous letter with a map in it marked with the spots
where Madeleine was buried," the source said.
"The police in Holland are taking it very seriously because it looks
like the same sender as one we received one year ago in another case of missing children.
Anonymous
"The letter said the girl should be found six to seven metres from a road. We have been there but haven't
seen anything but the area is so wide that you should be there with 100 searchers."
The map, thought to have been taken
from Dutch route planning website routenet.nl, identified a dirt track north of Odiaxere.
The source said there was
no mention of clairvoyancy or psychic powers in the note which was not published and was passed on to police authorities.
Details
of the letter have also been posted on the Find Madeleine website.
Mr and Mrs McCann visited the Netherlands last week
as part of a European search for their daughter.
The couple lived in Amsterdam for a year in 2004 when Madeleine was
a baby and Mrs McCann, 38, was pregnant with twins Sean and Amelie.
They have spoken fondly about their time there
and the friends they made. Mr McCann, a 39-year-old cardiologist, was working on specialist MRI imaging of the heart.
Their
return on June 7 to raise awareness about their daughter's abduction was the first time they had been back since leaving in
December 2004.
The couple, from Rothley, in Leicestershire, have led a tireless campaign to find their daughter amid
unprecedented media attention.
They have been to Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Morocco to try to track
her down.
Their nightmare started on May 3, when Madeleine was taken from the family's holiday apartment in the Mark
Warner Ocean Club resort as her parents ate at a tapas bar only yards away.
She was sleeping next to her younger brother
and sister but they slept through her abduction and are too young to understand what has happened.
Mr and Mrs McCann
have pledged not to leave the Algarve until their daughter is found.
ABC News 14 June 2007 (link)
Letter claims missing Madeleine dead
Posted Thu Jun 14, 2007 7:13am AEST
Updated Thu
Jun 14, 2007 7:15am AEST
Portuguese police say they will follow all leads on missing British
girl Madeleine McCann, including a disturbing anonymous letter that claims she is dead and supposedly shows where her body
is hidden.
Police spokesman Olegario de Sousa says the information about Madeleine's death, sent to a Dutch newspaper,
"has certainly come to the team of investigators".
"If the contents of the letter are sufficient for us to identify the area, we will check it out, as is the
case," he told a Portuguese radio station.
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf says it has received an anonymous letter giving details of where to
find the body of the four-year-old.
Madeleine vanished from the hotel room where she and her two-year-old twin siblings were sleeping in the southern
resort town of Praia da Luz on May 3, while her parents were dining at a nearby restaurant.
The newspaper says the letter is similar to one it received last year that indicated with some accuracy the
site where two missing Belgian girls' bodies were discovered at the end of June.
De Telegraaf has not published the letter, which it handed to Amsterdam police, who it says described
it as "important".
The paper says the letter was accompanied by a map. It claims the girl's body is "to the north of a road,
under trees and rocks about five to six metres from the road in an arid area".
Amsterdam police spokesman Gerard Crooland says copies of the letter have been sent to British and Dutch police,
while Dutch investigators analyse the original in a laboratory.
Portugal police chief Alipio Ribeiro meanwhile say his force is simultaneously "following up several leads"
and "working very closely with the British police".
- AFP
news.co.au 14 June 2007 (link)
Anonymous letter claims Madeleine McCann is buried in Portugal
By staff writers, June 14, 2007 06:54am
PORTUGUESE police are investigating claims that Madeleine McCann's body lies buried in deserted scrubland
just 14km from where she was abducted.
An anonymous letter claiming four-year-old Maddie was dead and her body was hidden under rocks was sent to
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf on Wednesday.
De Telegraaf said the letter was similar to one it received last year which had indicated
with some accuracy the site where two missing Belgian girls' bodies were discovered at the end of June.
"We received an anonymous letter with a map in it marked with the spots where Madeleine was buried.
"The police in Holland are taking it very seriously because it looks like the same sender as one we received
one year ago in another case of missing children.
The letter said the girl should be found "under trees and rocks about five to six metres from the road
in an arid area".'
Madeleine McCann vanished from the hotel room where she and her two-year-old twin siblings were sleeping in
the Portuguese resort town of Praia da Luz on May 3 while her parents were dining at a nearby restaurant.
De Telegraaf did not publish the letter, which it handed to Amsterdam police who described it as
"important,'' the paper said.
Copies of the letter have now been sent to British and Dutch police while investigators analyse the original
in a laboratory, Amsterdam police spokesman Gerard Crooland told Britain's Press Association.
Portuguese police Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said the information contained in the letter was being taken
seriously and "everything necessary'' was being done to validate the allegation.
The information about McCann's death, sent to a Dutch newspaper, "has certainly come to the team of investigators,''
police spokesman Olegario de Sousa told the Lusa news agency, adding that this would be followed up "like all other leads.''
"If the contents of the letter are sufficient for us to identify the area, we will check it out, as is the
case. We will not leave any leads'' unchecked, he said on the Antena 1 radio station from Portimao in southern Portugal.
Kate
and Gerry McCann have waged a media campaign to keep attention on their missing daughter. They now plan to spend the European
summer in Portugal awaiting any news of Madeleine.
With AFP
New Zealand Herald 14 June 2007 (link)
Police search for Madeleine near resort after tip-off
9:35AM Thursday June 14, 2007
By Carlos Pontes and Henrique Almeida
PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal - Portuguese police today searched an area of deserted scrubland near where four-year-old
Madeleine McCann was snatched, after a tip-off to a Dutch newspaper.
Seven police officers roamed around a deserted landscape on the side of a road 20 km north of the resort where
Madeleine McCann went missing in southern Portugal's Algarve region, according to a Reuters reporter.
Police chief inspector Olegario de Sousa said he was investigating the matter but declined to give further
details.
"We are following up this information," Sousa said.
An anonymous letter published on the Netherlands' biggest selling newspaper, De Telegraaf, and passed
on to authorities in Portugal, said Madeleine's "body" could be found "under branches or stones" 15 km from where she disappeared.
Alongside the letter were two sheets of paper with a map of an area of the Algarve, 15 km from the spot where
Madeleine, who disappeared at the beginning of May, was last seen.
By a cross and two question marks on the map was written "possible place where Madeleine could be found."
The letter and map is thought to be similar to that sent to the same newspaper last year giving out the location
of the bodies of two missing Belgian girls who were found after De Telegraaf received a tip-off.
Madeleine disappeared from her bed on May 3 while her parents were dining at a nearby restaurant in Praia
da Luz.
Since then, parents Kate and Gerry have launched an high-profile campaign, travelling around Europe and Morocco
with the aid of celebrities such as soccer star David Beckham in the hope of finding their daughter.
Sousa said earlier today he still hoped to find Madeleine more than 41 days after the blond-haired girl went
missing.
"Time is our enemy, but I am still hopeful that we can find her alive," he said, adding that despite reports
of dozens of possible sightings and clues she has not been found
"Not much has changed in the investigation. Those who were identified as witnesses remain witnesses and the
same suspects remain suspects," Olegario said in an interview with Reuters.
The only formal suspect in the investigation is Briton Robert Murat, 33, who lives in the resort.
- REUTERS
Guardian 14 June 2007 (link)
Letter to Dutch paper gives new lead in search for Madeleine
- Girl alleged to be buried under rocks in Portugal
- Police say they are taking claim 'very seriously'
Sandra Laville and Giles Tremlett
Thursday
June 14, 2007
Portuguese police are investigating a possible breakthrough in the
Madeleine McCann inquiry after an anonymous letter was sent to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf allegedly identifying where
the girl's body had been buried.
Dutch police said yesterday they were taking the contents of the letter
"very seriously". It is understood the author claimed the four-year-old had been buried under rocks in deserted scrubland
in an area called Odiaxere, about nine miles from the Mark Warner resort in Praia da Luz, where she went missing.
Yesterday evening a group of seven police officers visited Arao, a
small village north of Odiaxere. Witnesses said they spent an hour and 20 minutes looking in nearby fields.
De Telegraaf reported that it had been sent a map on two A4 pages
containing a cross and a question mark indicating a spot which was the "probable finding place" of Madeleine. Tests were carried
out on the letter and the envelope and as soon as the results came through they were sent to the Portuguese detectives investigating
the disappearance.
Officers in Portugal are investigating the letter's claims. Dutch
police said that part of the reason the letter was being taken so seriously was that it was similar to one sent to the same
newspaper last June, following the disappearance of two girls, Stacy Lemmens and Natalie Mahy, from the Belgian city of Liège.
In that case the author claimed to know where the girls' bodies had
been buried. The bodies were eventually found two weeks later in a storm drain near a railway crossing a short distance from
the location identified in the letter.
Abdallah Ait Oud, a convicted child rapist, was eventually arrested
for the murders. The DNA of a third person was found on the bodies.
Sita Koenders, from the Dutch police in Amsterdam, said yesterday
that De Telegraaf had received the letter on Monday and passed it straight to the police. "We carried out forensic investigations
straight away and ... we are awaiting instructions from the Portuguese and will start an inquiry into finding the author if
that is required."
Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said the information was being taken
seriously and "everything necessary" was being done to validate the allegation. "The information indicated an area 15km from
the place of the disappearance of the child," he said.
Mr and Mrs McCann visited the Netherlands last week as part of a European
search for their daughter, who was snatched from their holiday apartment 41 days ago.
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