Girl ‘not Madeleine’
A girl spotted in Queenstown and thought to be Madeleine McCann is not the missing British child, police say.
Detectives had been investigating the New Year’s Eve report by a Queenstown retailer who saw a man and a young fair-haired girl who they thought bore a striking resemblance to Madeleine.
However, this morning, they said they had identified the girl and were ‘‘absolutely satisfied’’ she was not the missing schoolgirl.
Detective Sergeant Brian Cameron did not give details of the Queenstown girl, other than to say it was not the first time people had confused the two girls and contacted police.
Three-year-old Madeleine went missing from the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007 while on holiday with her parents Kate and Gerry, and siblings Sean and Amelie.
The Queenstown retailer who reported the sighting said she immediately thought of Madeleine when the young blonde-haired girl came into her store.
‘‘She had the same eye defect as Madeleine. Only a very small percentage of the population have that and I was just staring at it the whole time to the point I forgot what they had purchased.
‘‘As soon as they left, I looked up an image online to see which eye it was and it was the same eye,’’ she said.
Madeleine has a blemish on her right eye called a coloboma of the iris. Figures suggest it occurs in about 0.007 per cent of the population.
The woman said neither the girl nor the darkhaired man she was with spoke while being served.
‘‘My only reason for alerting anybody is because if my little girl was missing and if someone on the other side of the world was seen who bore any considerable resemblance, I would want it ruled out.’’
Seventy police officers patrolling the Queenstown area on New Year’s Eve were told to keep an eye out for the pair.
There has been contact between the Metropolitan police in Britain and Queenstown police.
The woman also called the 24-hour Find Madeleine hotline.
‘‘They thanked me and said they would be in touch if they needed anything else.’’
As a result of the call to the hotline, British police had also been in contact with the woman.
Police have been given clear CCTV footage taken from several angles inside the store.
It is not the first time a possible sighting of Madeleine has been reported in New Zealand.
In December 2007, a CCTV video taken from The Warehouse in South Dunedin showed a girl who looked like the missing child being led into the store by a man. More than two years later, Dunedin police identified the girl and confirmed she was not Madeleine.
Last week, Kate McCann posted an update on the findmadeleine.com website thanking everyone who still held her daughter in their hearts and encouraged the public to continue to be vigilant.
‘‘As Madeleine’s parents, we won’t be able to rest until we know that all that can be feasibly done to find her, and the person who took her, has been done.
‘‘We are very aware that without public help it will be virtually impossible to find Madeleine.’’
In April, Scotland Yard released a photograph of her as she might look today as a 9-year-old.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who led a Metropolitan police review into the case, said he wanted the case reopened. ‘‘We genuinely believe there is a possibility she is alive.’’