Madeleine McCann case: New Zealand school girl gives DNA sample

A New Zealand school girl repeatedly mistaken for missing Madeleine McCann has given Scotland Yard a DNA sample to confirm that she is not the youngster.

She has been consistently pointed out as the youngster, who went missing in May 2007 while on holiday with her parents and twin siblings.

The New Zealand girl bears a striking resemblance to Madeleine McCann, and is believed to have a mark on her right eye similar to the distinctive one on the British girl’s iris.

Police launched a five-day investigation in January when a Queenstown retailer became suspicious of a man and the young girl.

The sample was requested following a reported sighting of Madeleine McCann on New Year’s Eve.

The DNA sample is a conclusive way of proving her identity, according to Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis of Dunedin police, News.com.au reported.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: “This is not a line of inquiry, but just to corroborate what police in New Zealand are saying we have requested DNA.”

Madeleine McCann was nearly four when she vanished from her family’s Portuguese holiday apartment in Praia da Luz as her parents, Gerry and Kate, ate dinner at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

The case led to a worldwide search amidst fears the girl had been snatched, but despite a number of leads coming to light no trace of Madeleine McCann has every been conclusively found.

Since the disappearance, officials have from time to time issued digitally altered images showing what she might look like over the passage of time.

Portuguese police stopped formally investigating the case in July 2008, but Madeleine McCann’s family have never given up their quest to track down their missing daughter.