Cal Gaunt
The family of Madeleine McCann has reportedly asked a woman claiming to be their daughter to take a DNA test.
Three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Portugal on May 3, 2007.
Her disappearance has been described as ‘the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history’.
Now, a woman claiming she may be Madeleine has shown two pieces of ‘evidence’ that, according to her, proves she is the missing girl.
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Julia Wandelt claimed she could be Madeleine on Instagram earlier this week.
Her account, which goes by the username @iammadeleinemccann, has more than 895,000 followers at the time of writing.
The 21-year-old, from Poland, claims she has a number of distinguishing features that are the same as Madeleine’s.
In one video, Julia shows a freckle on her leg and a speck in her eye, which are in similar places to the long-missing girl.
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She also believes she bears a resemblance to Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.
Julia claims she has been asked to take a DNA test by the McCann family after her original posts have gone viral.
A source close to the McCanns tells the Daily Star: “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.
“If what she says is true, there is every chance it could be her. It all adds up.”
Apparently, a member of the McCann family has come forward to take part in a DNA test.
Julia hopes she’ll be able to make direct contact with Madeleine’s parents soon, as she has added to her Instagram profile: “Thank you for your support! Kate and Gerry McCann agreed to a DNA test!”
However, the McCann family themselves are yet to comment on Julia’s claims.
Julia says she started wondering if she was Madeleine ‘a few months ago’ after hearing ‘something’ from her grandmother.
While she says she is 21 years old, Julia believes her age could be wrong.
Madeleine was born in May 2003, meaning that she would currently be 19 years old.
Answering questions from her many followers, Julia says she does not remember being taken away and has no recollection of most of her childhood.
She says: “I don’t remember being taken away. I mean, I don’t remember almost my entire childhood.”
Despite Julia’s best efforts at convincing the world she is missing Madeleine – sceptics are saying there are ‘glaring issues’ with her claims.
News.com.au reports that neither London’s Metropolitan Police nor the Find Madeleine campaign has issued statements.
They have previously done so when there have been legitimate previous potential sightings or leads.
“If there are important developments that can be made public, they will be issued through official police channels,” the family said in 2020 after a new suspect in the case was revealed.
In addition, many online commenters are saying that Julia doesn’t look like Madeleine.
They say the marking on her eye is slightly different to Madeleine’s, while others are pointing out that she appears to have a different jawline than Madeleine.
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Some social media users, though, are saying that her face may have changed slightly in the last 16 years.
Julia tells her followers that she’s not looking for viral fame and ‘truly believes’ she is Madeleine – even asking her parents for proof of her birth and contacting the police.
“Police investigators from UK and Poland try to ignore me. I will tell my story in posts here. Help me,” she writes on Instagram.
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“I have asked for pictures of when my mum was pregnant with me, other medical records and any pictures from my childhood and she never shows them, she just always tells me I’m crazy.
“My school teacher when I was very young said that I wasn’t there from the start but my parents insist I was.
“After all this confusion I began to do my own research and I discovered what had happened to Madeleine McCann and started to piece together the similarities we shared.
“It has been so stressful trying to get people to listen to me.”
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