In an interview to the El Mundo magazine, Amaral said that Madeleine had been hidden on the beach and, when asked whether, by that, he meant buried, replied, we do not know.
Presumably a grudging (unacknowledged) nod to the fact that Harrison explicitly ruled out burial.
You do not rule out anything in an unsolved case because MM could have been hidden under rocks - there were countless on PDL beach/cliffs.
Homicide Disposal Datasets
A limited search has been conducted of datasets that contain body disposal
data in homicide cases (CATCHEM, SCAS, FBI). Although this search was
limited due to the time constraints placed on this reports delivery an inference
can be gained from both the data sets and the authors own case work
experience. I have also consulted with NPIA and FBI colleagues to benefit
from their experiences.
The conclusion inferred is that beach burial is extremely rare. This should not
surprise us as to dig on a beach is a high risk activity requiring expending time
and energy when a more 'least effort" disposal is readily available, that is
directly into the sea. Of those limited cases that were found to be a beach
disposal the overwhelming majority were surface depositions with only
one
recorded concealment using rocks on top of a 2 year old child (CATCHEM
Database)
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/MARK_HARRISON.htm


