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Madeleine McCann just shy of her fourth birthday (L) and as she would look today, about to turn 6 (R) - Source: Reuters -
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Scotland Yard have confirmed they have requested a DNA sample following a reported sighting of missing English girl Madeleine McCann in Queenstown.
A Scotland Yard spokesperson told ONE News they have asked Queenstown police to send the voluntary sample for "completeness" in their investigations. They said the sample was not for a line of inquiry.
The request comes after Queenstown police were alerted to a reported sighting of Madeleine in a shop on New Year's Eve.
It is believed the girl spotted in Queenstown had the same eye defect - a blemish on her eye which occurs in only about 0.007% of the population - as McCann.
Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis, of Dunedin, confirmed police would be sending a DNA profile of the girl.
"Police will be sending a DNA profile to British police ... to confirm the identity of a girl who has been mistaken for Madeleine by a member of the public," Croudis told Fairfax Media.
He said the girl has been mistaken for Madeleine more than once.
Croudis said the DNA sampling was a conclusive way to establish identity, and "categorically rule her out".
The DNA sample has been sent to the Environmental Science and Research Laboratory in Auckland, and a DNA profile from that sample will be sent to Scotland Yard in due course.
Three-year-old Madeleine made international headlines when she 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.