Lisbon - The parents of a missing British girl on Thursday criticised a Dutch newspaper for giving details of an anonymous letter which claimed to know where she was buried near a Portuguese village.
Portuguese police scoured remote ground for the body of Madeleine McCann following the tipoff which was handed over by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
"We were extremely disappointed in the publication of the anonymous letter in The Telegraaf (Netherlands) claiming to know where Madeleine is buried," said the girl's father, Gerry McCann writing on a website devoted to the search for Madeleine.
"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.
"One can imagine how upsetting it is for Kate and I to hear of such claims through the media and if every piece of information was published like this there would be nothing else in the newspapers."
About a dozen investigators searched the scrubland near the southern village of Odiaxere, police spokesman Olegario de Sousa said.
The spot could correspond to that marked on a map which accompanied the anonymous letter.
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf said on Wednesday it had received the anonymous letter giving details of where to find the body of the missing four-year-old British girl.
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.
According to the letter, the girl's body is hidden about 15 kilometres north of Praia da Luz "under trees and rocks, five or six metres from the road", in barren ground.
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. - Sapa-AFP