A 10-year-old doubted Santa's visit — so she sent DNA evidence to police - The Washington Post

Scarlett decided to telephone for backup.

A fewer days later, the fourth-grader sent the grounds she’d collected to section constabulary with a missive explaining her investigative methodology and what she was trying to find out: “Dear Cumberland Police department, I took a illustration of a cooky and carrots that I near for Santa and the raindeer connected christmastide eve and was wondering if you could instrumentality a illustration of DNA and spot if Santa is real?”

“I thought that would springiness the champion answers due to the fact that it carries disconnected his DNA,” she told The Washington Post.

Scarlett’s enquiry has since sparked a multiagency probe that’s ongoing arsenic detectives and forensic analysts effort to find whether St. Nick visited portion she and her older member were nestled each snug successful their beds.

“Scarlett has ne'er been 1 to instrumentality anyone’s connection for anything. She conscionable doesn’t,” her mother, Alyson Doumato, told The Post. “She’s going to spell done her ain process and marque her ain conclusions astir beauteous overmuch everything. That’s conscionable her personality.”

This past Christmas was not Scarlett’s archetypal effort to beryllium Santa Claus’s existence, Doumato said. A mates of years ago, she acceptable up the camera connected her dad’s telephone to seizure Santa’s comings and goings. While Santa did marque an appearance, Scarlett suspected the footage had been doctored and remained unconvinced.

“It looked photoshopped, truthful I got suspicious,” she said.

Scarlett decided to effort again past month. Although her parents prodded her to present her grounds to constabulary successful person, she told her ma she was excessively shy. Instead, she went to the station bureau and mailed it.

Cumberland Police Chief Matthew Benson received the bundle a fewer days into the caller twelvemonth erstwhile helium returned from vacation. Noticing a child’s handwriting connected the extracurricular of the package, helium suspected it was a thank-you card, thing helium and his officers person connected occasion. Instead, helium recovered Scarlett’s missive and 2 Ziploc bags. He rapidly briefed his bid unit connected their caller case.

“You could spot them benignant of airy up with their excitement,” helium said. “It was amazing.”

His detectives photographed Scarlett’s grounds and documented each point connected an “Evidence Examination Request and Receipt” signifier earlier sending it to the authorities wellness department’s forensic laboratory. In his report, Benson noted that the suspect, Santa Claus, went by respective aliases: Kriss Kringle, Saint Nicholas and Saint Nick.

On Jan. 18, the main wrote Scarlett a reply, informing her that he’d “launched an probe into the pursuit of Santa Claus’ existent identity,” and, to that end, he’d sent her DNA grounds to the state’s forensic laboratory for analysis.

Awaiting those results, Benson told Scarlett that constabulary had a pb successful the case: A fishy had been seen lurking successful her vicinity connected Christmas Eve. Witnesses described him arsenic “a larger antheral with a achromatic beard and reddish jacket.” Officers talked with the suspect’s ineligible advisers to put a travel to constabulary headquarters, wherever helium would beryllium interviewed and fingerprinted successful the coming weeks.

“He is presently retired of authorities determination up northbound and needs immoderate clip to coordinate his question plans backmost to Cumberland,” Benson wrote successful his missive to Scarlett. “Apparently, helium leads a precise ample squad of workers who physique toys and besides maintains a tiny workplace with astir 9 animals that request changeless attraction and attraction arsenic they are perpetually playing games.”

On Monday, the forensic laboratory released the results of its analysis. Tests connected the DNA from the Oreo got nary matches successful a nationalist DNA database but analysts didn’t onslaught retired entirely.

“Interestingly determination was a partial lucifer to a 1947 lawsuit centered astir 34th thoroughfare successful New York City,” according to the lab’s report. And connected the carrots, they recovered DNA “matching closely” with Rangifer tarandus — reindeer.

“While our laboratory was capable to use the astir existent and technologically precocious methods to solving this case, we aren’t capable to definitively corroborate oregon refute the beingness of Santa astatine your home. We each hold that thing magical whitethorn beryllium astatine play.”

Benson said that his detectives’ probe is ongoing and that helium plans to invitation Scarlett to the presumption to stock their findings erstwhile it’s done.

Scarlett said that, earlier her investigation, she suspected her ma and dada were liable for munching connected the treats she near for Santa and company. But with the caller trial results, her moving mentation is that Santa’s existent and popped successful connected Christmas to driblet disconnected gifts and get a snack.

Still, she was “slightly irritated” by the laboratory results, her ma said. She’d hoped they would beryllium conclusive, giving her a definitive yes oregon nary reply to the question of Santa’s existence.

Without it, Scarlett’s already crafting the adjacent steps successful her investigation. This year, she plans to cod DNA samples from her ma and dada up of the vacation season. She’ll comparison those to a illustration collected from the solid of beverage she leaves for him connected Christmas Eve. For bully measure, she’s going to acceptable up a camera astatine a antithetic space than the 1 she utilized years agone successful the hopes that she catches him red-handed.

With Scarlett connected the case, Santa amended ticker out.