Madeleine McCann’s parents agree to DNA testing Polish woman

News

Of Olivia Land

February 21, 2023 | 10:19

The parents of missing British child Madeleine McCann have agreed to a DNA test for a Polish woman who believes she is their daughter – even though even representatives of the young woman making the stunning claims admit her background is “messy”.

Gerry and Kate McCann, whose 3-year-old daughter, Madeleine, disappeared on vacation in Portugal more than 15 years ago, are following up on Julia Faustyna’s claims that she is the kidnapped toddler, a source told the Daily Beast this week.

Faustyna, 21, became an internet sensation this month after she started posting on social media under the handle @iammadeleinemccann. Earlier this week, she updated her Instagram bio with “Kate and Gerry McCann agree to DNA test!”

In one of her first Instagram posts, Faustyna writes that she doesn’t remember most of her early life except “holidays in a warm place where there was (a) beach and white or very bright (sic) buildings with apartments (sic). “

Many of Faustyna’s posts document apparent physical similarities between herself and Madeleine, including a distinctive brown spot on both girls’ right irises.

“I have similar eyes, face shape, ears, lips, I had the gap between my teeth (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 to Madeleine’s parents. Help me!”

In other posts, Faustyna points out perceived similarities between herself and Gerry and Kate McCann.

Madeleine, from Leicestershire, was last seen sleeping with her infant siblings at the family’s Praia de Luz holiday home on May 3, 2007. When Kate McCann checked on her children at around 10pm, she found the bedroom door and window open and Madeleine gone.

In her posts, Faustyna also shared the police sketch of the man several witnesses saw carrying a child at the resort the night Madeleine disappeared.

“I recognize this person..he looks a lot like my abuser (sic),” she wrote.

Although it is unclear what kind of abuse Faustyna may have been subjected to, she refers in her posts to being subjected to a “German pedophile”.

However, news that the McCanns are reportedly pursuing Faustyna’s claims comes amid growing concern about the young woman’s mental state.

“(Julia’s) mental health at the moment is not good,” spokesperson Dr. Fia Johansson, aka “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 Post’s request for comment. A representative for Gerry and Kate McCann also could not immediately be reached.

Although local authorities initially suspected Gerry and Kate of killing their daughter and disposing of her body, investigators later hypothesized that Madeleine may have been kidnapped by German sex offender Christian Brückner.

The authorities are still investigating Brückner (45), who was formally identified as a suspect in the McCann case in April 2022.

According to the Daily Beast, Brückner was a handyman in Praia de Luz at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance. He is serving a seven-year sentence for raping a 72-year-old woman at the resort in September 2005.

“We welcome the news that Portuguese authorities have declared a German man an ‘arguido’ (suspect) in relation to the disappearance of our beloved daughter Madeleine,” the McCanns wrote on their website after Brückner’s official identification last year.

“Although the possibility may be slim, we have not given up hope that Madeleine is still alive and we will be reunited with her.”