Family members of a woman who claimed she is the missing Madeleine McCann are understood to be “devastated” over her beliefs.
Julia Wendell, 21, from Poland, sparked a social media frenzy after starting the @iammadeleinemccann Instagram account. She alleges that she has evidence that shows that he is the missing British child.
Madeleine's disappearance in Portugal’s Algarve in 2007 whilst on a family holiday captured the hearts and minds of Europeans.
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Although an extensive police search was conducted, very little information has ever come to light about what happened to the young girl, the Mirror reports.
Police's main hypothesis is that she was murdered and have charged German paedophile Christian Brueckner, 47, for killing her.
Julia says that she has shared “evidence” which includes a speck in her eye and a freckle on her leg which is found in the same spot as Madeleine’s.
As a result of her posts, a Polish charity called Missing Years Ago has released a statement on behalf of the woman’s family. They say that they have “memories” and photographs that show Julia’s claims cannot be true.
Their own evidence makes it "obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step niece".
The family said: "For us as a family it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step niece. We have memories, we have pictures.
"Julia also has these photos, because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges. We always tried to understand all situations that happened with Julia.
"Threats to our address from Julia, her lies and manipulations, activity on the internet. We've seen it all and we've tried to prevent it, to explain, we've asked her to stop.
"We always tried to help her get back on her feet. Julia has been of age for several years. She has moved out of the house. Julia once wanted to be a singer, a model. She always wanted to be popular. What's happening now she got one million followers.
"We're afraid Julia will carry the inevitable. The internet won't forget, and it's obvious that Julia isn't Maddie. We are devastated at this current situation."
After Julia's posts went viral, a source close to Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry McCann called for the 21-year-old to undergo a DNA test because they're "willing to look at all leads."
A source close to the parents 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."
But yesterday, a private detective called Francisco Marco - who led the hunt for Maddie after her disappearance - says he has carried out analysis which rules out the possibility of Julia being the missing girl.
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