POLICE hunting for missing Maddie McCann have dramatically widened their search to an extinct VOLCANO, the News of the World can exclusively reveal.

Teams of officers with sniffer dogs are scouring what one called a "sinister" area called Black Rock near sea cliffs just over a mile from the resort where the youngster was snatched on Thursday.

The search was redirected as the detective leading the hunt said his team had a good idea who the kidnapper was — and that he believes Maddie may still be ALIVE.

CAN YOU HELP?
CALL THE POLICE: (00 351) 282 405 400
CALL THE NEWSDESK: (00 44) 207 782 1001

A source close to the Portuguese investigation also told the News of the World that the abductor is believed to have spent days watching Maddie and staking out the McCann family's apartment at the Ocean Club resort in the seaside village of Praia da Luz.

Maddie's mother Kate McCann has made an impassioned plea to the person holding the tot - begging them to let her go.

Clutching a picture of her missing daughter she said:“We would like to say a few words to the person who is with our Madeleine, or has been with Madeleine.

“Madeleine is a beautiful, bright, sunny and caring little girl. She is so special.

“Please, please, do not hurt her. Please do not scare her, please let us know where to find Madeleine or put her in place of safety and tell somebody where.

“We beg you to let Madeleine come home.We need our Madeleine.”

“Sean and Amelie need Madeleine and she needs us. Please give our little girl back. “Por favor, devolva a nossa menina.”



Meanwhile more than 500 British tourists, expats and locals have joined in the ongoing search for the blonde youngster along a six-mile stretch of the coastline.

The search has now shifted to Rocha Negra — a remote area feared by the local community and an ideal hideout.

Furriel Louis Costa, one of the policemen involved in the search, told us: "You would call it Black Rock. It is a very scary and chilling place. The local Portuguese people do not like to go up there. They are too frightened.

Captive



"It is very big and extends high up above the sea which makes it seem very threatening. You can go up there. But no one ever does. It's not a nice place. It is sinister."



He spoke as hopes rose that Maddie might be alive and held captive following a statement earlier in the day from the head of the investigation, Director of the Judicial Police Guilhermino Encarnacao who hinted that they KNOW the kidnapper's identity.

He said: "There is a prime suspect and we have a portrait sketch of the suspect. But I am not going to reveal it because it may put the girl's life in danger. We believe that she is still alive and still in Portugal."

More than 150 police officers have been drafted into the area—and British detectives from the McCann's home county of Leicestershire flew in to join the hunt which also took in the Boavista golf course, again a mile from where she was abducted.

All ports, airports and borders have been put on high alert for any sign of the missing tot.



Maddie disappeared from the Ocean Club in the Praia da Luz resort of Portugal as her doctor parents Gerry and Kate McCann, both 38, ate in a restaurant 50 yards away.

They had chosen not to use the babysitting service provided by holiday company Mark Warner and instead were checking on her every half hour as she slept between her two-year-old twin brother and sister, Shaun and Amelie.

A police source told us the kidnapper must have KNOWN there was no babysitter in the apartment — and could have been watching the family's movements for days.

He said: "It wasn't just coincidence that this person took her while her parents were out. They would have been watching and waiting."

Some sources in the area suggested that Maddie may have been snatched by a Russian or Eastern European gang to be sold for up to £250,000.