DNA results have been released as part of an inquisitive young girl's call for proof of the ever-elusive Santa Claus.
Rhode Island's Department of Health says it's not been able to "definitively confirm of refute the presence of Santa" having been in a young girl's home this Christmas.
Scarlett Doumato, 10, had asked the health body to test a partially-eaten cookie and a couple of gnawed-on carrot sticks for DNA to see if St Nick is real.
Though the department couldn't confirm his existence, they tweeted on Monday that "we all agree that something magical may be at play".
The authority said it couldn't find a complete match to anyone in the Combined DNA Index System but said there was a partial match “to a 1947 case centred around 34th Street in New York City,” referring to the movie “Miracle on 34th Street.”
It said it would need more DNA samples “from other known Santa encounters to make a definitive match.”
The “good news” is that the lab did find the presence of DNA closely matching Rangifer tarandus, known as reindeer, when testing the carrots, the department said.
The girl, a Cumberland resident, had sent the cookie and carrot sticks to the town’s police department to ask if they can be tested for DNA, Chief Matthew Benson said on Friday.
Benson forwarded the “evidence” to the state’s Department of Health-Forensic Sciences unit for analysis.
Scarlett's letter read: "Dear Cumberland Police Dapartment (sic), I took a sample of a cookie and carrots that I left for Santa and the raindeer (sic) on Christmas Eve and was wondering if you could take a sample of DNA and see if Santa is real?"
In an earlier press statement, the department included a scan of the evidence receipt, listing each of the items in a plastic bag.
In evidence photos, two pieces of baby carrots and a "partially-eaten" Oreo cookie can be seen safely stored in zip lock bags.
The police department left no stone unturned, and in official documents asked for "bite marks" to be "compared with any dental records on file".
They said that to be sure, the records should be cross analysed with any of Santas aliases, including Kris Kringle, St Nicholas and St Nick.
The cops also called for a test to identify the "suspect's" reindeers who were likely to have been with him that night, listing each of them.
The chief of police released his own statement, saying: "This young lady obviously has a keen sense for truth and the investigative process and did a tremendous job packaging her evidence for submission.
"We will do our very best to provide answers for her."
Her mum Alyson Doumato said her daughter had always been a little skeptical, "and looking for the facts".
The youngster said she got the idea from "crime shows".
Cops say they've already marked Scarlett as a "future-CPD detective".
