Australian police say a distinctive handmade quilt could hold
the key to the identity of a murdered young girl whose remains were found along
with a suitcase on the side of a remote highway.
The skeletal
remains of the child, who police believe to be a Caucasian girl, aged
two-and-a-half to four, with fair, 18 cm (7 inch) long hair, were spotted by a
driver on South Australia's Karoonda Highway, 2 km (1.2 miles) west of the town
of Wynarka on July 15.
Near the body
was a faded, greying black suitcase, the quilt, and items of children's
clothing, including a black party dress and a Dora the Explorer T-shirt.
Detective
Superintendent Des Bray, who is heading the investigation, said at a press
conference that the suitcase was first seen at the location after road works
were completed in March.
Investigators
believe the suitcase containing the body and clothing was left behind a bush,
before another person subsequently tipped out most of the contents and left the
suitcase near the roadside.
Bray said that,
for reasons he would not disclose, police were "confident that this child
was murdered," and that the killing had occurred at another location.
Quilt pattern revealed
On Monday, police released an image of
the tattered 90 cm by 90 cm patchwork quilt, with seven of its 25 octagonal
patches digitally enhanced to show designs including pumpkins, stars and a
camel.
The quilt's
border features a pattern of musical notes.
Bray said Sunday
that the quilt had been homemade, and appealed for anyone who recalled having
seen it to come forward.
"Clearly
somebody has gone to the effort of making that quilt for somebody that they
care about and love," he said.
"It's extremely distinctive and it's impossible to believe
that somebody doesn't know who had that quilt."
A child's black
party dress found with the body should also be recognizable to somebody, he
said.
"A little
girl wearing that dress -- people must remember seeing a little girl like that
at a party, at a barbecue, at a family get together."
Madeleine? 'Highly unlikely'
The description of the murdered girl --
who police say was 90-95 cm (2 feet, 11 inches -- 3 feet, 1 inch) tall, and
killed some time since the start of 2007 -- triggered speculation that the
remains could be those of missing British girl Madeleine McCann.
McCann, who was
also blonde, disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal in May 2007, aged
three.
But Bray said
the investigation was proceeding on the basis that it was probably an
Australian child.
"It is highly unlikely that the victim in Madeleine
McCann," he said.
32 children excluded
Police have said that they have received
a huge public response to their appeal for information, with 410 calls from
members of the public.
The calls had
led to 32 children being ruled out as potential victims.
"We've had
a large number of children identified to us who may have been children at risk
or children that people are on reflection worried about," Bray said.
Police are also
appealing for a man who had been seen in the area with a dark suitcase in April
and May to come forward, to potentially exclude him from the inquiry.
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