Let's hope this search isn't fruitless

THE German police officer stood on the partially collapsed roof of the abandoned farmhouse, pickaxe in hand.

- BY MARTIN FRICKER in Praia da Luz

Less than 100 yards away, holidaymakers walked hand-in-hand along the coastal path linking Praia da Luz and Lagos.

The only sign that something terrible might have happened on this clifftop was police tape cordoning off the scene.

The tourists looking out at the choppy Atlantic Ocean probably had no idea why dozens of officers were there.

But the rest of the world now does - they were looking for the remains of Madeleine McCann.