From 4th Feb 2008
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/divers-hunt-for-madeleine-mccanns-body-291916Divers hunt for Madeleine McCann's body in a remote reservoir
The search for Madeleine McCann took a grim twist yesterday as divers trawled a remote reservoir for her body.
Emily Nash
Madeleine McCann (PA)
The search for Madeleine McCann took a grim twist yesterday as divers trawled a remote reservoir for her body.
The hunt, near the Algarve resort where she went missing in May, followed an underworld tip-off to lawyer Marcos Correia.
Marcos, 32, said: "They told me she was thrown into a deserted lake with murky waters. I'm convinced this is the place."
It was a search that began in hope but gave way to heavy-hearted resignation as the weeks and months went by.
Now there are fears the hunt for Madeleine McCann could end in the murky depths of a reservoir 40 miles from where she went missing.
Good Samaritan Marcos Aragao Correia, 32, is paying for a team of British divers to trawl it after an underworld tip-off that she was dumped in a lake just days after being abducted.
And they have unearthed a 17ft cord he believes was used to tie up the four-year-old.
The desolate reservoir in Barragem do Arade - 150ft deep in places - has a beach and a walkway leading to a tower. It matches clues the Portuguese lawyer was given.
Marcos said: "I am convinced this is the place. My sources told me Madeleine was thrown into a deserted lake with murky waters, a beach and lots of trees.
"I believe this would have been the best place for someone to have dumped the body, based on my investigations.
"It's not overlooked, has easy access by car and if you threw the body from the tower the water is 55ft deep there."
The site is also a short drive from Silves, where a trucker has told police that on May 5 - two days after Madeleine went missing - he saw a woman hand a man a child looking like her.
News of the grim lead came as Portugal's top cop conceded his men acted with "hastiness" in making the McCanns suspects.
And Marcos believes Kate and Gerry had nothing to do with Madeleine's disappearance.
He is funding the dive search - at an estimated £1,200 a day - after he told Portuguese detectives eight weeks ago about the tip-off but was ignored.
The lawyer said: "I was able to identify the site on December 10 and immediately informed police, who did nothing.
"I got tired of waiting for them to act on my information, so I decided to act.
"I will stay here as long as is necessary to try to solve this mystery. I don't care how much the divers cost, what matters is that my conscience will be clear."
Six frogmen, working seven hours a day, are searching by touch alone as there is almost zero visibility in the lake's dark depths.
Marcos is convinced the nylon cord they retrieved - of a type used on window blinds - was tragically connected to Madeleine's abduction. He said: "They have found a cord tied in knots down there, right below the tower. I have given it to police.
"It's logical that if you throw a body in the water, you would tie it to something to weigh it down. There's no other rubbish there. There is no reason for it to be there."
Arade Reservoir, accessible via a dirt track, is a few hundred yards from a derelict hilltop diner and a car park used as an unofficial caravan camping site.
The divers are focusing their search on the base of the tower - 15ft from the shore - as Marcos believes the body may have been thrown from there.
He explained: "I don't have enough money to pay for the entire lake to be searched. That would take many divers and many weeks.
"But because of the clues I have I decided to pay for searches in this area."
The underwater unit began their grim task last Thursday.
Alan Wilson, who heads the team based in Lagos, Portugal, said: "You can't see anything down there.
"Everything is black because there is no light. The divers are searching entirely by touch, feeling in the silt for anything suspicious that shouldn't be there. It's a long, slow process."
The woman said to have been seen in Silves passing a girl to a male accomplice is said to have looked like Mikaela Walczuch - girlfriend of suspect Robert Murat.
Ms Walczuch has never been an official suspect and dismissed the claim as "ridiculous".
However, both Marcos and Metodo 3, the Spanish detective agency hired by the Mc-Canns, believe the sighting of the girl could be a crucial clue.
The lawyer said: "Metodo 3 believe this lead is quite credible.
"They told me their investigations indicated that Madeleine was switched from one car to another, precisely in Silves."
He added: "I don't believe Kate and Gerry did it. It could have been a single madman or a gang, I don't know."
Marcos, who was first given his tip-off three days after Madeleine went missing from Praia da Luz, visited the reservoir with Metodo 3 detectives in December.
Last night the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell welcomed the possible breakthrough.
He said: "We're grateful to anyone who feels they have important information in the search for Madeleine.
"If his search produces significant results he must, of course, share that information with the police and our investigators."
Meanwhile, Portuguese police chief Alipio Ribeiro conceded at the weekend his officers showed a "certain hastiness" in making Kate and Gerry, both 39, suspects.
He admitted there "perhaps should have been a different evaluation... I have no doubt about that." Kate and Gerry believe it could be a key step in clearing their name.
A friend revealed: "They're not punching the air as they know there's still a long way to go, but it's a step in the right direction."
Mr Mitchell added: "There was no air of celebration, but it's the sort of thing we have been waiting for.
"We hope that his comments are an indication police realise there's no case against Kate and Gerry and that it leads to them being eliminated from the inquiry."
Emily.Nash@Mirror.Co.Uk
