Frogmen resume search of reservoir where lawyer claims Madeleine McCann's body was dumped

It follows an underworld tip-off that Madeleine, aged three at the time, was raped, murdered and dumped in a lake within 48 hours of being taken from her parents' holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal, last May.

Lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia received the tip-off and paid for the first search of the reservoir near the town of Silves in the Algarve five weeks ago.

The Portuguese Society of Engineering and Construction is helping fund the latest search.

Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, both 39, say they still believe their daughter is alive.

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Firefighter divers joined specialists from Lagos-based dive school Dive Time yesterday morning as the original search area around a water pumping tower was widened.

Marcos, from Madeira, says he pinpointed it as Madeleine's burial site after being told by underworld criminals she had been raped, murdered and dumped in a lake in the area within 48 hours of being snatched.

The McCanns' private investigators Metodo 3 have been informed of the new search - but are still working on the theory she is alive and being held against her will.

Mr Aragao said: "If I was Madeleine's parents, I'd want to be helped.

"It may not be the outcome they want if I find Madeleine, but it's important for them that they find out what happened to her and recover her body if she is dead.

"There may be genetic evidence on the corpse that could help the police discover who killed her," he added.

"We've used the time between the first and second searches to consult experts on the most likely current location of Madeleine's body. The result is a widened search area.

"Dive Time will continue to be in charge of the searches. But they have been joined by divers from a neighbouring town highly experienced in searches for bodies in natural and artificial lakes."

A Portuguese lorry driver told Metodo 3 he saw the German girlfriend of Madeleine suspect Robert Murat handing over a child in a blanket to a mystery man in Silves, a five-minute drive from the reservoir, on May 5 last year.

Michaela Walczuch has claimed she is being framed to protect the McCanns and denied any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

She has never been made an official suspect and has only ever been quizzed as a witness.