Portuguese police today started searching an area of scrubland just nine miles from where British girl Madeleine McCann was abducted.
Police vans, one carrying sniffer dogs, moved in at first light in the village of Arao, not far from Praia da Luz. It is now 43 days since the four-year-old was taken from her bed as she slept in the Algarve resort.
A section of the police, known as GNR, cordoned off the road in the tiny village as they carried out their search.
Two days ago Portuguese police were told about an anonymous letter alleging that Madeleine had been buried under rocks in this area. The information was sent to a Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf, and claimed her body was just seven metres from the road.
Portuguese police started investigating the claim on Wednesday,but it has taken until today to start any formal search proceedings.
A source close to Kate and Gerry McCann said the couple had been told that searches were likely to take place this morning. But he said the police had already investigated the area and were going back to "double check" that they had not missed anything.
The anonymous letter sent to De Telegraafwas taken seriously because it was similar to another note last year which correctly identified the location of two dead Belgian girls.
The bodies of Stacy Lemmens (7) and her step-sister, Nathalie Mahy (10) were found in Liege 19 days after they disappeared while playing outside a bar. The letter alerting police had contained a map with crosses marked on it.
A similar map with a specific area highlighted was received by De Telegraafon Monday.
PA