A DUTCH NEWSPAPER which published an anonymous letter detailing the alleged whereabouts of Madeleine McCann before informing Portuguese police has been heavily criticised by the McCann family.
De Telegraaf carried the letter on the June 13. In it, the anonymous writer indicated that Madeleine’s body could be found near the Arão-Pereira road, north of Odiáxere.
The information was immediately analysed – and then swiftly abandoned by the Polícia Judiciária.
Search teams were sent early on Friday (June 15) morning to the location marked on a map carried in the newspaper. The Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) closed several access roads to the area during the morning and four dog teams were called in to search.
However, the operation was abandoned later the same morning after police searches found nothing.
The letter had been considered credible by both the newspaper and the Dutch police.
Both parties said that the method used by the sender resembled an abduction case in Belgium just a year earlier.
In the Belgium incident, an anonymous letter, also sent to De Telegraaf, gave important information on the whereabouts of two girls. They were found, murdered, only two kilometres from the spot detailed in the letter.
The media impact of the De Telegraph report on the Madeleine case was huge, with reporters from around the world visiting the area long before the police teams.
This action was criticised by the local police force and the McCann’s.
The McCann’s were also said to have been “very disappointed” that the Dutch newspaper chose to print an anonymous letter before informing the Portuguese police.
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