Divers recover bag of small bones in search for Maddy
Saturday March 15 2008
DIVERS searching an Algarve reservoir for Madeleine McCann yesterday found a plastic bag containing small bones.
Police experts were last night examining the gruesome find made by a frogman working for a Portuguese lawyer.
Gerry and Kate McCann were informed immediately by a private detective who was observing the search.
Madeira-based lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia says he was tipped off by underworld contacts that Madeleine was murdered and her body thrown into the reservoir last May.
The search turned up the bones in the murky waters of the Barragem do Arabe reservoir yesterday at 3.30pm.
Mr Correia said last night: "We found two bags one of which contains some small bones. We don't know if they are human bones or not at this stage. If they are human bones, they look like they come from a child's fingers."
Last night the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell played down the find.
He said: "We have not been informed of anything by the police to indicate that this find is significant.
Animal
"There is nothing to indicate at this stage that they are human bones and they could easily be from an animal.
"There is nothing at the moment to indicate that this find has anything to do with Madeleine. We continue to believe she is alive.
Last night a police expert wearing white protective gloves was at the scene of the find examining the bones.
Spanish TV reported that the bones may have been those of an animal, but the Spanish police refused to comment and an analysis was being carried out last night.Madeleine disappeared last May 3 while on holiday with her family in the resort of Praia da Luz, a 20-minute drive from the reservoir.
It is the second time divers working for Mr Correia have searched the waters. The criminal lawyer has spent thousands of euro on the search.
John Fellows, a frogman with the Lagos-based dive school Dive Time made the discovery.
The remote reservoir is near the town of Silves where a lorry driver saw a woman handing a child like Madeleine McCann over to a man two days after she went missing.
Mr Correia says he decided to search the reservoir after being told by criminals that Madeleine, who was three when she disappeared, had been raped, murdered and dumped in a lake in the area within 48 hours of being snatched.
Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, have previously dismissed Mr Correia as a self-publicist and said there is no evidence to suggest there is any link between their daughter and the reservoir.
Yesterday was due to be the last day of the search, which has involved seven divers. Francisco Mendes, a 59-year-old from Portimao who was in the area when the bones were found, said last night: "I was here on a day out as it is a very peaceful, remote area. I saw the police turned up and walked down.
"They have found two small black plastic bags. The police are examining them now. We are being kept 15 metres back so can't really see what's inside.
The search is five weeks old.
