Madeleine McCann's parents have called an end to speculation and rumour-mongering around the search in Portugal for their daughter.
Kate and Gerry McCann spoke today as British and Portuguese police officers continued to search an area of land near the holiday complex where Madeleine disappeared in May 2007.
The couple, of Rothley, said: "We would like to ask people to refrain from spreading rumours and speculation based on inaccurate press reporting.
"We are kept updated on the on-going work in Portugal and are encouraged by the progress.
"Thank you for continuing to stand by us and supporting our efforts to get Madeleine home."
The brief message was posted on the Facebook page of the Find Madeleine campaign.
It did not specify whether the couple was troubled by British or foreign reporting of the search, which entered its fourth day today, observed by a large media contingent.
Madeleine disappeared from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, on May 3, 2007.
Today, police searched drains close to the resort.
A team British and Portuguese officers were seen lifting three manhole covers and lowering a camera attached to a long pole down them.
One of the men also lowered a tape measure into the drains, which were just inside the cordon set up around the large area of scrubland.
The search of the area for clues is likely to go into a second week after British police applied to the judiciary to spend an extra seven days there.
It is not clear whether they will work over the weekend and nothing is expected to be carried out on Tuesday as it is a public holiday.
The team searching the drains then moved away out of sight of the dozens of TV crews and press watching from the other side of the cordon.
Earlier, a number of media reports said, the Metropolitan Police officer who is leading the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, looked on as a group of his officers used pickaxes and spades to clear leaves and grass from the same area.
The area being searched, which is a few minutes' walk from the Ocean Club resort apartment where Madeleine and her family were staying, saw officers focusing their investigations on a hole which had been previously covered by undergrowth.
But it is understood nothing of significance was found there, with bones found identified as those of animals.
