Madeleine McCann 'lookalike' DNA sample being tested....

[Ammi]

A New Zealand girl repeatedly mistaken for missing Madeleine McCann has given police a sample of her DNA which will be sent to Scotland Yard.

The girl, who has not been named, is understood to have a similar eye defect to Madeleine, prompting members of the public to believe she is the missing child.

The DNA sample is a conclusive way of proving her identity, said Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis of Dunedin Police.

"The results of this process will not be known for some time," he told New Zealand newspaper The Southland Times.

On New Year's Eve police launched a five-day investigation when a retailer became suspicious of a man and a young girl, who bore a resemblance to Madeleine.

However, they said they were "absolutely satisfied" she was not Madeleine, and it was not the first time she had been mistaken for the missing girl.

Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished from her family's Portuguese holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in 2007 as her parents dined at a nearby restaurant with friends.

Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, have never abandoned their high-profile campaign to find their eldest daughter, who would now be nine.

Sightings have also been reported in Sweden, Belgium and Australia.

It is not the first time a child has been DNA-tested in relation to the case of the missing British girl.

In 2011, a young girl spotted in India with a Belgian man and French woman was tested and was also found not to be Madeleine




..I wonder if Madeleine's disappearance will ever be solved.....

[Marc]

Imagine if that was her

[Ammi]

..yeah, I somehow don't think it will be though...I can't imagine what a living nightmare her parents lives must be..not knowing...

[Jesus.]

I doubt it will ever be solved. She's more than likely buried in the Portuguese countryside.

[AnnieK]

I doubt it will ever be solved. She's more than likely buried in the Portuguese countryside.

Have to agree unfortunately...

[Nedusa]

I doubt it will ever be solved. She's more than likely buried in the Portuguese countryside.

Yes sadly this is my conclusion also...!!!!

[Niamh.]

I doubt it will ever be solved. She's more than likely buried in the Portuguese countryside.

Yeah, i think this is most likely as well

[Vanessa]

I really hope it's her. :bawling:

[Jesus.]

I really hope it's her. :bawling:

It's not her though. That's why she's handing over a DNA sample, so she can bring it to a close.

[Vanessa]

It's not her though. That's why she's handing over a DNA sample, so she can bring it to a close.

I'm still hoping she's alive. :(

[Jesus.]

I'm still hoping she's alive. :(

And I'm still hoping Heidi Klum realises I'm the one she wants to be with.

[Kizzy]

I do too vanessa, we can only hope.

[Vanessa]

I do too vanessa, we can only hope.

What are the chances that this kid has the same eye defect? It's bizarre to ay the least! :suspect:

[Jesus.]

What are the chances that this kid has the same eye defect? It's bizarre to ay the least! :suspect:

About 1 in 20,000 have it.

[Ammi]

And I'm still hoping Heidi Klum realises I'm the one she wants to be with.

..there's probably a higher chance of that tbh, so don't give up hope....

[Kizzy]

I read 1 in 10'000, and there is always a chance. Look at Ben Hardwicks family they have never given up hope.

[Vanessa]

I read 1 in 10'000, and there is always a chance. Look at Ben Hardwicks family they have never given up hope.

I think there's always hope.

[Niamh.]

I read 1 in 10'000, and there is always a chance. Look at Ben Hardwicks family they have never given up hope.

I suppose best case scenario would be she's being raised by another family and is oblivious to everything, it just seems so unlikely.

[InOne]

Stories like this pop up about Maddie every few months. It's the parents trying to keep it fresh in peoples minds.

[Ramsay]

Instead of these stories of ''madeleine lookalike seen'' coming up every now and again, i'd just rather they'd leave it until she's legit found, if she ever is

Stories like this pop up about Maddie every few months. It's the parents trying to keep it fresh in peoples minds.

Yeah that's probably it

[Nedusa]

Watching the News today there is new hope apparently that Madeleine McCann may still be alive and that the Police have some new leads. The recent stories of young women being kept prisoners for over a decade has perhaps injected a bit of momentum into an otherwise stalled investigation.

But I wonder what has actually changed in the last 48 hours for the McCann story to be mentioned in the news again...???

[Ammi]

..I think it said that they had around 20 new leads though Nedusa, which still seems to be a bit vague to me..and the Portugese police are refusing to look into them..?...as much as I would like to see the McCanns get some answers to what happened to their daughter, I fear it won't ever be so....

[Nedusa]

..I think it said that they had around 20 new leads though Nedusa, which still seems to be a bit vague to me..and the Portugese police are refusing to look into them..?...as much as I would like to see the McCanns get some answers to what happened to their daughter, I fear it won't ever be so....

I agree , but its a shame to keep raising and dashing the hopes of the McCanns with news reports like these. How are they ever going to get closure on this ??

[Ammi]

I agree , but its a shame to keep raising and dashing the hopes of the McCanns with news reports like these. How are they ever going to get closure on this ??

..I think though that their hopes are always right up there..they refuse to accept that she's not alive and try so hard to maintain all enquiries and to keep it in the public eye, so that new leads can be discovered..their frustrations must be with the Portugese police and that they won't follow the leads..but I don't think they have any faith in them anyway..maybe they have private detectives following them..?...but until they find her they won't ever, ever let this go, themselves....and obviously, that's completely understandable..the 'not knowing' must be the most awful thing a parent can ever face...

[lostalex]

in cases like these it's hard to know what would be worse, if she was killed long ago, or if she's been kept alive but in sexual slavery for all these years. which is worse? i don't know.

[AnnieK]

in cases like these it's hard to know what would be worse, if she was killed long ago, or if she's been kept alive but in sexual slavery for all these years. which is worse? i don't know.

Yeah agree. Both are unimaginable...

[Ammi]

in cases like these it's hard to know what would be worse, if she was killed long ago, or if she's been kept alive but in sexual slavery for all these years. which is worse? i don't know.

..both of them would just be so awful for them Alex..I mean devastating..but I always think that, no matter what you have to deal with and no matter how you cope with it, at least 'knowing' will mean that you can start that process...for me, the not knowing would be the worst thing..because your mind will fill in so much, which would also be terrible....I don't know if that's true though, I'm just thankful that I've never had to face anything like that....

[InOne]

I still don't get why the media chooses to focus still on this one case. Yeah the McCann's pay for it but how long can their money last?

[Z]

I still don't get why the media chooses to focus still on this one case. Yeah the McCann's pay for it but how long can their money last?

Probably because she was a British little white girl whose parents are doctors. It carries more shock value; along with the manner of her disappearance and the dead ends the investigation has hit... I agree with Alex, what kind of a life could she have if she is still alive and is being kept in sexual slavery? The innocent child the McCann family brought into the world would be irreversibly damaged for life - mentally, physically and emotionally... It's just so damn sad. Unless she was stolen for adoption, I think death is probably a better alternative to a life of unending abuse... :(

[InOne]

I think she was definitely killed. When the whole thing blew up there was nowhere they could transport her without her being spotted. Especially with the bleeding iris.

[Ammi]

..I don't think there is a 'timescale' regardless of money, when a parent would give up a hope that they're child was still alive..and I do understand what you're saying Zee..it does make sense but that's kind of from an outsiders point of view..for a parent, I do think that they wouldn't think like that but hope that whatever the circumstances, their child was still alive and that one day they'll return home...

..of course, I haven't been in that situation and I'm so thankful for that..so I am only trying to imagine how it is for them....

[Vicky.]

I dont get why this one case is so important.

Important is probably the wrong word..but kids go missing every day and we dont hear about it for years and years like we have with Maddie..

And I am still of the opinion that her parents had something to do with it. Though quite why they would chose to keep it in the spotlight if they had involvement is strange.

[Jesus.]

It's probably the added guilt of the fact they left children in an apartment alone, whilst they went to get hammered by the pool.

I'm overly logical at times, but I think abductions are just generally a load of coincidences thrown together that create opportunity, and the type of character who would do these kinds of things.

You can't keep your children in doors constantly, and there is always a risk in daily life, but the parents were irresponsible at best and negligent at worst. Their own guilt probably keeps them from accepting she's dead and moving on.

[Vicky.]

Well obviously the parents would never get over the loss of a child. What I meant is why does the media take such interest in this one case while thousands of other kids have gone missing in the meantime and they are 'lucky' to even get a mention if they arent found as a body.

[InOne]

Well obviously the parents would never get over the loss of a child. What I meant is why does the media take such interest in this one case while thousands of other kids have gone missing in the meantime and they are 'lucky' to even get a mention if they arent found as a body.

Because they pay for it to be kept in the media. Why do you think every few months we have these 'Maddie possibly spotted' type stories. And there's always a few pics floating around of what she'd look like now as well.

[Vicky.]

I think I read jesus' post wrong :suspect:

[Z]

..I don't think there is a 'timescale' regardless of money, when a parent would give up a hope that they're child was still alive..and I do understand what you're saying Zee..it does make sense but that's kind of from an outsiders point of view..for a parent, I do think that they wouldn't think like that but hope that whatever the circumstances, their child was still alive and that one day they'll return home...

..of course, I haven't been in that situation and I'm so thankful for that..so I am only trying to imagine how it is for them....

Yeah I mean it would be horrible for her parents to start thinking that it's better she's dead than alive, but perhaps the strain of all of this would cause one or both of them to start thinking like that... I'm almost surprised they're still together, this tragedy must have deeply affected their marriage. Obviously they would much rather have their child back than discover she is dead after years of hoping she might still be alive; but they're not going to get any closure until they know for sure either way and it must be torture to live every day of your life regretting one bad decision one night.

I suppose what I find most surprising is the fact that Madeleine was taken but the twins weren't. It suggests that either it was just one opportunistic person acting alone and perhaps they had been watching the family prior to taking her; or it lends support to the view that she was murdered or otherwise died in her room and was gotten rid of. If they were being watched, then clearly it wasn't a team operation or I think all three children would have been taken. It does make you wonder if she was kidnapped for an adoption ring - but then that doesn't make much sense to me... If you're wealthy enough to pay someone to kidnap a child for adoption, why not just adopt normally? If you're kidnapping a child so you can sell them to a wealthy couple for adoption, then surely anyone adopting her would know her story... so unfortunately I don't think that's a possibility at all. I think either she died and her parents knew about it, or she was kidnapped for sexual purposes and either she was murdered right away, as is often the case when young children go missing, or she's been sold into a paedophile ring with probably the same end result...

It just makes me so sad thinking about it. I studied sex trafficking for a while and have watched interviews with women who have escaped from the cycle and have watched a documentary of a man trying to get his wife back after she was sold into slavery by a family friend... It's just devastating. Women are forced to have sex with so many men every day and are left with problems like incontinence, physical disabilities and the emotional scars run deep... Often they even have to willingly go back into sexual slavery because they're so poor, it's the only way to earn money. There was an interview I watched with a woman whose brother and sister were both dying from tumours; her sister's tumour was in her brain and had grown so big she couldn't open one of her eyes, and she had gone into sex trafficking because they had no other way of earning enough money to save up for operations... She saved up her money and her brother died before they could do anything... I know I'm going a bit off topic, but I think that if Madeleine McCann is still alive, she isn't going to know or remember her life before she was taken and she's not going to know where to go if she ever managed to escape. :(

[Kizzy]

Look at how long Ben Needhams poor mother has been looking for her son, you would just never stop looking.
They were having dinner a few feet away, and it was common practice to do this a few years ago.
'Baby crying in chalet 55'... I don't hold them responsible.

[Ammi]

Yeah I mean it would be horrible for her parents to start thinking that it's better she's dead than alive, but perhaps the strain of all of this would cause one or both of them to start thinking like that... I'm almost surprised they're still together, this tragedy must have deeply affected their marriage. Obviously they would much rather have their child back than discover she is dead after years of hoping she might still be alive; but they're not going to get any closure until they know for sure either way and it must be torture to live every day of your life regretting one bad decision one night.

I suppose what I find most surprising is the fact that Madeleine was taken but the twins weren't. It suggests that either it was just one opportunistic person acting alone and perhaps they had been watching the family prior to taking her; or it lends support to the view that she was murdered or otherwise died in her room and was gotten rid of. If they were being watched, then clearly it wasn't a team operation or I think all three children would have been taken. It does make you wonder if she was kidnapped for an adoption ring - but then that doesn't make much sense to me... If you're wealthy enough to pay someone to kidnap a child for adoption, why not just adopt normally? If you're kidnapping a child so you can sell them to a wealthy couple for adoption, then surely anyone adopting her would know her story... so unfortunately I don't think that's a possibility at all. I think either she died and her parents knew about it, or she was kidnapped for sexual purposes and either she was murdered right away, as is often the case when young children go missing, or she's been sold into a paedophile ring with probably the same end result...

It just makes me so sad thinking about it. I studied sex trafficking for a while and have watched interviews with women who have escaped from the cycle and have watched a documentary of a man trying to get his wife back after she was sold into slavery by a family friend... It's just devastating. Women are forced to have sex with so many men every day and are left with problems like incontinence, physical disabilities and the emotional scars run deep... Often they even have to willingly go back into sexual slavery because they're so poor, it's the only way to earn money. There was an interview I watched with a woman whose brother and sister were both dying from tumours; her sister's tumour was in her brain and had grown so big she couldn't open one of her eyes, and she had gone into sex trafficking because they had no other way of earning enough money to save up for operations... She saved up her money and her brother died before they could do anything... I know I'm going a bit off topic, but I think that if Madeleine McCann is still alive, she isn't going to know or remember her life before she was taken and she's not going to know where to go if she ever managed to escape. :(

..yeah, there was a movie based on a true story, about a child who was returned to their parents and it was very difficult for them to adjust because they had no memory of their life before the kidnapping and to them, these people were strangers...it makes you think about those three females in USA and the Fritzl one...

..I've also seen documentaries about females being taken for sex trafficking and it's just heartbreaking that even if they do manage to escpae from it, the rest of their lives are so effected by it, both emotionally and physically....

..I do agree with you that Madeleine is probably not still alive..I would like to think that her parents know nothing of her death, but obviously they will feel guilt over leaving her and that's something they always carry with them..I think for them and for any parent, the worst thing would be not knowing, which is why they endlessly look for her and keep this in the public eye..they are fortunate that they have the funds to do that..not everyone has and as Vicky has said, that must just add an extra heartache and frustration for other parents facing this.....