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Daily Record
Daily Record
World
Kirsten McStay

Woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann shares picture 'proof' of theory

A woman, who is claiming to be missing Madeleine McCann, has shared a picture of her "smile" and compared it to Kate McCann's mouth.

The 21-year-old believes she is the missing Brit, who disappeared in May 2007 in Praia da Luz in Portugal.

She has now shared side by side images of herself and Maddie's mother Kate, suggesting they are similar.

Julia Wandelt, from Poland, says that she has the same freckle on her leg and speck in her eye as missing Maddie.

This week, Julia created an Instagram account named @iammadeleinemcann and the profile has now gained more than 370,000 followers, writes The Birmingham Mail.

She has shared the comparison with Kate on that account.

A source close to the McCanns said: “The family are taking no chances, they are willing to look at all leads. It is important they look at all of the factors, the girl does look similar. There’s no disputing that.

The young woman claiming she may be Madeleine McCann has shared side by side images of herself and Kate McCann suggesting they look similar. (Instagram)

“If what she says is true, there is every chance it could be her. It all adds up.”

Her Instagram bio says: "I think I can be Madeleine. I need DNA test. Police investigators from UK and Poland try to ignore me. I will tell my story in posts here. Help me."

The woman claimed she spoke to someone who claimed to be Madeleine's cousin and told her she could "have a possibility" to talk to Kate and Gerry McCann to arrange a DNA test.

Julia Faustyna, 21, went viral after claiming to be Madeleine McCann. (Instagram)

Julia says she has no recollection of most details of her childhood. She said: "I don't remember being taken away. I mean, I don't remember almost my entire childhood." Maddie vanished while on a family holiday in May 2007.

Maddie's parents, Kate and Gerry, vowed to never to give up searching for their daughter.

In 2020, when a German suspect Christian B was named by investigators, Clarence Mitchell, the longtime spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann, said: “Kate and Gerry do feel it’s potentially very significant. They have welcomed the appeal; they’re not doing any interviews themselves about it because they wish the focus to remain on the police request rather than they themselves.”

Madeleine McCann vanished on a family holiday to Portugal aged four. (PA)

Underlining the significance of the development, Mitchell said it was “the first time in more than 13 years that I can recall [the police] focusing on one individual”.

He said: “There have there been countless sightings, tipoffs, rumours, assumptions made largely by the media about A or B, which have all suddenly come to nothing. Nor would I want to talk about any sense of hope or optimism around this one, given the circumstances.

"But, as I say, in my memory of being involved in the case, the police have never been quite so specific about an individual, as they have been in this appeal.”

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