.JPG "Live: Russian reinforcements pour into eastern Ukraine and prepare for a new offensive")
![OnePlus Cloud 11 event: Watch the live launch of OnePlus 11 5G, OnePlus 11R India here [Video]](https://cdn.dnaindia.com/sites/default/files/styles/third/public/2023/02/07/2571198-oneplus-11-5g.png "OnePlus Cloud 11 event: Watch the live launch of OnePlus 11 5G, OnePlus 11R India here [Video]")
PROVIDENCE, RI — A Rhode Island girl teams up with a local police force to solve an age-old mystery: Does Santa Claus really exist?
Earlier this month, 10-year-old Scarlett Doumato of Cumberland sent police a partially eaten cookie and the remains of a carrot she found at her home on Christmas morning.
“I took a sample of a cookie and carrots that I left for Santa and the reindeer on Christmas Eve and was wondering if you could take a TBEN sample to see if Santa is real,” Scarlett wrote in a letter to the police.
Cumberland Police Chief Matthew J. Benson said in a press release that he had directed department detectives to send the evidence to the Department of Health’s Department of Forensic Science for analysis.
“This young lady clearly has a keen sense of truth and the investigative process and has done an excellent job of packaging her evidence for submission,” Benson said in the press release. “We will do our very best to give her answers.”
Why does Santa Claus look the way he does? How his Elvis Presley image went to today’s look
In a printed form sent to the state, police identify the suspect as Santa Claus, with aliases “Kris Kringle”, “Saint Nicholas”, and “Saint Nick”.
The suspect’s crime? “Not finishing snacks.”
The form, which police posted on Facebook, asks the state lab to examine the evidence “for traces of TBEN” and compare the results with “profiles of the above suspect/aliases.” It also asks for any bite marks on the cookies to be compared to any suspect’s dental records.
Top Stories:Breaking world’s largest pizza record in epic stunt for NY-style return to Pizza Hut’s menu
NASA:Webb telescope reveals icy space cloud containing the ‘building blocks of life’
Cumberland Police are also asking the state to compare bite marks on the carrots to “all dental records on file of reindeer owned by the suspect; specifically, his and used on 12/24/2022 through 12/25/2022: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupido, Donner, Blitzen or Rudolph.”
Even before hearing from Scarlett, police developed any evidence that may be related to the case. Benson confirmed Monday that the department had received reports of a person roaming Scarlett’s neighborhood on the night in question. He was described as “an older male subject, white beard, red coat,” said Benson.
Police also discovered “neighborhood surveillance photo of a single reindeer and believe we will discover more on that front as well,” Benson said.
Scarlett’s mother, Alyson Doumoto, said she was surprised on Christmas morning when Scarlett grabbed the leftover snacks and said, “I’m collecting these samples and I’m going to send them to the police for TBEN testing.”
Scarlett, who is in fourth grade, “likes science” and likes to watch television programs about investigations, her mother said. Scarlett and her family learned a first-hand lesson about TBEN testing when they had TBEN tests performed on their rescue dogs, Jett and Onyx.
What is everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to receive the latest news of the day
So Scarlett, her mother, father, Matthew and brother, Gianni, 13, anxiously awaited the results of a new TBEN test on Monday morning.
The state health service has one tweet later mondaysaying it had “applied the most current and technologically advanced methods to solve the case” but was “not quite able to conclusively confirm or disprove Santa’s presence in your home.”
Still, police aren’t ready to let the case go as cold as a December sleigh ride. They posted a mysterious photo on Facebook on Monday showing a person in a fancy red suit, but their face was not visible.
“We are still actively investigating and pursuing additional leads,” the post says. “An interested person has responded to headquarters today. Additional information will be released shortly.”
Meanwhile, Alyson Doumoto says she is grateful to the Cumberland Police Department “for doing their very best and spreading some joy”.
