I searched for Madeleine McCann in Christian B’s ‘paradise’ lake 15yrs ago – it’ll be a miracle if cops find her now
A LAWYER has revealed how he was tipped off 15 years ago about the Portugal dam now at the centre of police searches for Madeleine McCann.
Marcos Aragao Correia organised the original dive search of the Arade Dam near Silves – which is just 45 minutes from Praia da Luz where Maddie vanished from in 2007.
Speaking for the first time since the new search, the frustrated lawyer bemoaned he was “ignored” by cops at the time as Portuguese and German police return to the site.
He hopes the case will be solved, but says he thinks it will be a “miracle” if they find Maddie.
Mr Correia, 47, claims he received a tip off from contact in the “underworld” who told him that Maddie had been dumped in a “deserted lake with murky waters”.
He organised a team of British divers to wade into the desolate reservoir – which is at much as 150ft deep – in a private search, but the operation quickly ran out of cash back in 2008.
The divers however did find some suspicious items – including a 17ft length of cord and strips of tape.
His operation however has never been formally linked to the Maddie probe, and today’s joint search by the Portuguese and German cops is the first official search of the waters.
“The clues I received shortly after Madeleine disappeared pointed to her having been kidnapped, raped and murdered and her body thrown into a lake in the Algarve,” Mr Correia told The Sun Online.
He claims he was “ignored” by the Portuguese authorities – and so took on the case himself, saying he carried it out pro bono and funded it using donations.
Mr Correia then whittled down the possible lakes in the area to the Arade Dam.
“I hired a private company of divers from the Algarve to carry out searches in that lake, however, we did not have the support of the Portuguese police – although I had requested this,” he told The Sun Online.
“Our means were quite limited and the budget I had offered it quickly ran out, so a few days later we were forced to abandon the search.
“However, very suspicious material was found, such as ropes tied with heavy stones.”
Mr Correia, a dad-of-four, is now based on the island of Madeira and has retired from the legal profession – saying he prefers to work as an academic and focus on his family.
He is highly critical of the Portuguese authorities handling of the Madeleine case.
Mr Correia told The Sun Online: “We cannot count on the state, especially the Portuguese State, to help us if something bad happens to our children.
“There is clearly the example of Madeleine McCann, abandoned at the highest level by the Portuguese state, and her parents, clearly innocent, persecuted.
“After 16 years, only a miracle could now find Madeleine McCann’s remains.
“That’s all I have to say.”
After his involvement in the Maddie probe, Mr Correia went to work on the murder of Joana Cipriano.
Joana was an eight-year-old who also went missing on the the Algarve just seven miles from Praia da Luz three years before Maddie’s disappearance.
The probe into her vanishing was led by Chief Inspector Gonçalo Amaral, who also led the probe into Maddie.
Portuguese authorities deemed that Joana’s mum Leonor and uncle Joao had killed her during the initial investigation in 2004.
Maddie and Joana’s case have often been linked due to their geographic proximity and the fact both featured high profile media campaigns to find the children.
Mr Correia named two of his children after Joana and Madeleine – calling his youngest Madelena.
Julian Peribanez, a private investigator who worked with firm Metodo 3 – who was hire by the McCanns, was also part of Correia’s initial search.
He remains unconvinced that police are hunting the right man in going after Christian B.
“Madeleine was kidnapped by a criminal group, it was not a one-man operation,” Peribanez told The Sun.
“As long as no one proves to me otherwise Madeleine is still alive and I would like the authorities to make investigations aimed at that and not to look for her dead.
“I for one am still working on finding her alive.”
German cops insist sex offender Christian B is the only suspect in the Maddie case – and have said in no uncertain terms they believe he killed her after snatching her from the Ocean Club.
He, however, has always protested his innocence.
Christian B is believed to have been operating around Praia da Luz at the time Maddie went missing – living a transient existence in a VW van and making a living by breaking into holiday apartments.
Police divers were seen entering the water early on Tuesday.
And a police motorboat has also been sent into the water with two officers on it.
Arade Dam can only be accessed by a dirt road and is an extremely desolate area.
The evidence sparking the renewed search remains unknown – but sources said Christian B used to call the dam his “little paradise”.
He was reportedly “seen there often” and would sometimes spend the night in the barren area near an derelict hilltop diner.
And the reservoir is located in between where he would park his grotty camper van in Praia da Luz and a villa in which he would stay in Foral.
“[Christian B] moved around that area. He had a house 12miles from the place,” a source told The Sun.
“British authorities will come too to supervise and the Germans may join the search. The operation is expected to last two days- maybe more.
“We are also hearing criminal science experts will join.
“Most of it will take place on land but also part on the dam water, which is currently very shallow owing to a drought.”
It will be the first major operation in Portugal of its kind since June 2014.
British police were given permission to do digs that involved sniffer dogs trained in detecting bodies and ground-penetrating radar in Praia da Luz.
German police have had a long-running probe into Christian B – and despite slow progress just last month vowed “nothing had changed“.
Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann are expected to be kept informed of any developments as a result of the new search through Scotland Yard liaison officers.
