Madeleine McCann
Dunedin police have obtained DNA, given voluntarily, from
the girl at the centre of a claimed sighting of Madeleine
McCann in Queenstown on New Year's Eve.
Police in Queenstown investigated the sighting of the British
girl, but later issued a statement saying they were
''absolutely satisfied' it was not the girl who went missing
in Portugal while holidaying with her parents, on May 3,
2007.
Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis, of Dunedin, said in
a statement this week Scotland Yard had requested a DNA test.
''Police will be sending a DNA profile to British police
investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, to
confirm the identity of a girl who has been mistaken for
Madeleine by a member of the public.''
Results of the test, which was taken voluntarily and would
provide a ''conclusive way to establish identity'', were
expected within weeks, he said.
It was not the first time Southern district police have
investigated an alleged sighting of the girl. A claimed
sighting at The Warehouse in South Dunedin in 2007 was later
confirmed by police as being of another child.
A Balclutha couple also reported seeing a man with a
Madeleine lookalike, and other reports have come from
Alexandra and Queenstown.
In the Dunedin case, police asked media outlets to not
publish the grainy black and white security footage of the
girl, after it was confirmed she was not Madeleine.
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