POLICE Commissioner Grant Stevens has dismissed speculation that a murdered child found by the side of an SA highway could be the world’s most high-profile missing girl, Madeleine McCann. 
 
 Mr Stevens today told a parliamentary estimates committee hearing that “clearly we’re looking at tragic circumstances here”. 
 
 “There is absolutely no evidence at this point in time that the child is Madeleine McCann … to suggest something like that at this point in time would purely be speculating to get attention,” he said. 
 
 Missing since 2007 — English girl Madeleine McCann was snatched from a Portuguese holiday resort. The picture at right is an age-advanced estimation of how she could have looked several years after her disappearance. 
 
 Detective Superintendent Des Bray updates media on Wynarka bones investigation 11:55 Officer in Charge of Major Crime Investigation Branch, Detective Superintendent Des Bray, gives an update regarding the discovery of human bones at Wynarka in early July 2015. Courtesy: SA Police Detective Superintendent Des Bray updates media on Wynarka bones investigation 
 
 Officer in Charge of Major Crime Investigation Branch, Detective Superintendent Des Bray, gives an update regarding the discovery of human bones at Wynarka in early July 2015. Courtesy: SA Police 
 
 The quilt, left, found in the suitcase, with the digital image, left, released by the police today that shows seven patches identified. 
 
 A close-up of one of the patches from the quilt. 
 
 Detective Superintendent Des Bray with a photo of the musical note fabric used to make a quilt found with child’s remains. Picture: Campbell Brodie. 
 
 The quilt that was handmade specifically for a young child. Picture: SA Police 
 
 A mannequin with hair of a similar colour and length, dressed in new versions of items of clothing found with the body, along with suitcase found at the scene. 1 of n 
 
 “We are focusing our inquiries on South Australia but we would be considering any potential missing child. Until we ascertain the identity of the child we need to be open to all possibilities.” 
 
 Earlier, police said fabric used to make a distinctive homemade quilt found with the remains was manufactured in New York about seven years ago. 
 
 Major Crime officer in charge Detective Superintendent Des Bray said police wanted to trace the origins of the quilt in a bid to find out how it came to be on the side of the Karoonda Hwy, near Wynarka, in the Murray Mallee. 
 
 They have released digital images that identify seven of the quilt’s 25 octagonal patches, which were sown into the quilt. Police hope someone will recognise the quilt. 
 
 It was found alongside the remains of what police say was a little girl, aged between two and four when she was violently killed. 
 
 It was found alongside the remains of what police say was a little girl, aged between two and four when she was violently killed. 
 
 Her skeletal remains had been dumped in a suitcase next to the highway up to four months ago. 
 
 But her bones had been tipped out of the suitcase when discovered by a passing motorist on July 15. 
 
 Det-Supt Bray said it was “more likely than not” that the little girl was never reported missing to authorities. 
 
 “It would be impossible to believe that someone didn’t love this little girl,” he said. 
 
 “It’s hard to believe someone hasn’t missed her. 
 
 “I thought when we started this job that we would quickly identify who this little girl was. “Somewhere out there is a mother, a father, at the very least an extended family that obviously lived near someone and I’m at a loss as to why someone hasn’t reported this little girl." 
 
 Det-Supt Bray said the distinctiveness of some of the items, including the quilt and a black tutu, found with the remains would help solve the mystery. 
 
 He said police believed some of the quilt fabric — coloured musical notes — was manufactured in New York in about 2008. 
 
 “The quilt is really important to the investigation,” he said. 
 
 “If we can find out who that quilt was given to or whether it ended up in an op-shop that will take us back to a geographical area.” 
 
 He said the quilt was homemade using a sewing machine and a polyester material was used to line its inside, which indicated it was made for a child. 
 
 Previously, police said the labels, decomposition of fabric and staining of clothes found with the remains indicated she was killed some time after 2007. 
 
 It was also likely she had fair hair and was 90-95cm tall when she was killed, police said. 
 
 Det-Supt Bray said the little girl was killed in a violent manner. 
 
 “We’re certain of how the little girl met her death — why, who and what circumstances, it’s just impossible to tell,” he said. 
 
 “It could fit any scenario.” 
 
 He said 55 calls had been made to Crime Stoppers about the quilt since police released its image to the Sunday Mail. 
 
 “We’ve had about 280 Crime Stopper calls being received in South Australia and across the country,” he said. 
 
 “I guess in terms of recent cases that’s unprecedented the number of calls we’re getting.” 
 
 Anyone with information about the murder is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. 
 
 Wynarka suitcase murder clues Previous Next 1 of 25 2 of 25 3 of 25 4 of 25 5 of 25 6 of 25 7 of 25 8 of 25 9 of 25 10 of 25 X Want to see more?( 15 more photos in collection )Continue to full gallery 
 
 Clues in the Wynarka suitcase murder ||||| UK police make inquiries about remains found in suitcase but Australian authorities say there is currently ‘no evidence’ it relates to McCann case 
 
 Police officers investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have contacted Australian authorities over the discovery of a young girl’s remains in a suitcase, Scotland Yard has said. 
 
 The remains of a fair-haired girl likely to have been aged between two and four were found dumped on the side of a rural highway in the South Australian wild earlier this month. 
 
 
 
 The girl is believed to have been killed at a different location at some time since the start of 2007, according to South Australian police. The remains were found in a suitcase along with items of clothing and a degraded quilt next to a motorway in Wynarka, near Adelaide. 
 
 The discovery has led to speculation that the remains could be those of McCann, who had blond hair and was three years old when she went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in the Algarve, Portugal, on 3 May 2007. 
 
 A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: “We are aware of reports of the remains of a child having been found in South Australia and we have made contact with the Australian authorities.” 
 
 
 
 Australian authorities have so far been unable to identify the body, but Det Supt Des Bray, the officer in charge of the major crime investigation branch of South Australia police, said it was “highly unlikely” that the victim is Madeleine. 
 
 “At this time our inquiries will focus on where the evidence leads us in this investigation and at this point that primary focus remains within Australia,” Bray said. 
 
 
 
 Australian police commissioner Grant Stevens told a parliamentary committee hearing: “There is absolutely no evidence at this point in time that the child is Madeleine McCann … to suggest something like that at this point in time would purely be speculating to get attention. 
 
 “We are focusing our inquiries on South Australia but we would be considering any potential missing child. Until we ascertain the identity of the child we need to be open to all possibilities.” ||||| Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Embed Madeleine McCann detectives contact Australia about remains 0:27 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 LONDON — Australian police have ruled out the possibility that a child's body found in a suitcase on the side of a highway is missing British girl Madeleine McCann. 
 
 Madeleine McCann before she went missing in Portugal in May 2007. Uncredited / London Metropolitan Police via AP Photo 
 
 The discovery of the body, which had potential similarities with the missing British girl, caused detectives in London investigating McCann's 2007 disappearance to contact their counterparts in Australia. 
 
 South Australia Police had warned a match was "highly unlikely," but the force's Detective Superintendent Des Bray extinguished all possibility Wednesday by announcing that "Madeleine McCann has been totally excluded as a potential victim." 
 
 The body was found earlier this month near the town of Wynarka, 65 miles from the city of Adelaide. Some items of clothing and a quilt were also inside the luggage. 
 
 Digital image of a quilt central to a police murder inquiry (r). Full update of Wynarka case: https://t.co/v7U2SryDPb pic.twitter.com/n4AXyiZIw3 — SA Police News (@SAPoliceNews) July 27, 2015 
 
 Police believe the remains were of a girl aged 2 ½ to 4 years old, who was around 35 inches tall and had 7-inch fair hair. She was killed at another location at some point since the start of 2007, police said. 
 
 McCann's disappearance from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, sparked a police investigation costing millions of dollars. 
 
 Countless sightings have been reported but none have been confirmed. No one has ever been charged over her disappearance. ||||| Image copyright PA Image caption Madeleine went missing in the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz in 2007, aged three 
 
 The body of a girl whose remains were discovered in a suitcase in Australia is not missing Madeleine McCann, police have confirmed. 
 
 South Australia Police said it had ruled out 43 missing children in connection to the discovery by a remote motorway in Wynarka, near Adelaide. 
 
 The decomposed body is that of a fair-haired girl aged between two-and-a-half and four, police said. 
 
 The Met said Madeline had been "totally excluded" as a potential victim. 
 
 Det Supt Des Bray said: "I can confirm that Madeleine McCann has been totally excluded as a potential victim and UK police have been advised." 
 
 The Metropolitan Police previously said they were aware of reports a child's remains had been found and had contacted Australian authorities. 
 
 Three-year-old Madeleine went missing in 2007 in Portugal.
– First, the words of caution: "There is absolutely no evidence at this point in time that the child is Madeleine McCann," says an Australian police commissioner. But the body of a child, found near the South Australia town of Wynarka and thus far unidentified, has led the detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine to reach out to their Australian counterparts. Here's why: The remains, contained in a suitcase that also held a quilt and some clothing, are thought to be those of a fair-haired girl, between the ages of 2 and 4, who was killed some time after the beginning of 2007. Madeleine vanished at age 3 on May 3, 2007. NBC News reports police said the child was likely white, with hair about 7 inches long. The Australian Associated Press reported the skeletal remains were found on July 15; it's thought the suitcase had been left along the rural highway four to six weeks prior, with the child having been killed before that. British law enforcement officials confirm they have made contact, but neither side sounds overly optimistic. It's "highly unlikely" the remains are those of Madeleine, says Detective Superintendent Des Bray, per the Guardian. Adds the commissioner, to suggest the child is Madeleine "at this point in time would purely be speculating to get attention." What they are zeroing in on, per the Advertiser: that homemade quilt. "The quilt is really important to the investigation," says Bray. Investigators believe a portion of the quilt fabric, which shows colored musical notes against a black background, was made in New York around 2008.