Missing British child Madeleine McCann’s parents have agreed to a DNA test for a Polish woman who believes she is their daughter — despite the fact that even representatives for the young woman making the astonishing claims admit that her background is “messy.”
A source told the Daily Beast this week that Gerry and Kate McCann, whose 3-year-old daughter, Madeleine, vanished on vacation in Portugal over 15 years ago, are investigating Julia Faustyna’s claims that she is the kidnapped toddler.
This month, Faustyna, 21, became an internet sensation after she began posting on social media under the handle @iammadeleinemccann. She changed her Instagram bio to “Kate and Gerry McCann agreed for DNA test!” earlier this week.
Faustyna writes in one of her first Instagram posts that she remembers “holidays in a hot place where there was [a] beach and White or very light coloured [sic] buildings with apartaments [sic].”
Many of Faustyna’s posts highlight physical similarities between herself and Madeleine, such as a distinct brown smudge on both girls’ right irises.
“I have similar eyes, shape of face, ears, lips, I had the gap between the teeths [as Madeleine],” she wrote in one post alongside several photos of both herself and the missing tot.
“I need to know the truth. I need [a] dna test and I need to talk with Madeleine’s parents. Help me!”
In other posts, Faustyna draws parallels between herself and Gerry and Kate McCann.
Madeleine, from Leicestershire, was last seen sleeping with her infant siblings in her family’s vacation rental in Praia de Luz on May 3, 2007. Kate McCann went to check on her children around 10 p.m. and discovered the bedroom door and window open and Madeleine gone.
Faustyna also shared a police sketch of the man who multiple witnesses saw carrying a child in the resort the night Madeleine disappeared in her posts.
“I recognise this person..it looks very similar to my abbuser [sic],” she wrote.
While it’s unclear what kind of abuse Faustyna endured, she mentions being victimised by a “German paedophile” in her posts.
The McCanns’ alleged pursuit of Faustyna’s claims, on the other hand, comes amid growing concern about the young woman’s mental state.
“[Julia’s] mental health at this moment is not good,” spokesperson Dr. Fia Johansson, also known as “Persian Medium,” shared in a video update to Faustyna’s Instagram profile on Monday.
“She needs help,” Johansson continued, noting that Faustyna’s background is “challenging and messy.”
Johansson did not respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment. Gerry and Kate McCann’s representatives could not be reached immediately.
Though local authorities initially suspected Gerry and Kate of murdering and disposing of their daughter’s body, investigators later concluded that Madeleine was possibly abducted by German sex offender Christian Brückner.
Authorities are reportedly still looking into Brückner, 45, who was named as a suspect in the McCann case in April 2022.
