A private investigator who is helping a woman that thinks she could be Madeleine McCann has told how a ‘small detail’ swayed her to take on the case.
Julia Wandelt went viral last month after posting on social media claiming that she thinks she could be Madeleine, who disappeared in May 2007 in Praia da Luz in Portugal.
The 21-year-old from Poland claims to have a freckle on her leg and a speck in her eye in the same places as the British girl, as well as looking similar to parents Kate and Gerry.
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She started an Instagram profile, which quickly amassed over a million followers, which has since been deactivated. It consisted of dozens of posts she thought acted as proof.
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In one post, she uploaded side-by-side pictures of herself and Madeleine and wrote: “I have similar eyes, shape of face, ears, lips, I had the gap between the teeth."
Julia is currently living in California with Dr Fia Johansson, who is investigating her claim.
Fia has worked with US police on missing persons cases in the past and has been helping Julia undertake DNA tests.
Speaking to Sky News Australia as they await the test results, Fia explained the ‘small detail’ that convinced her to take on the case.
She said: "She has this mark in her eyes... that I can see when she's talking to me. I looked at the eyes and said 'oh my god that's exactly the mark'
“The two have a distinctive brown smudge on their right iris. Maddie’s was due to a rare condition called coloboma – and share some other similar features evident in childhood photos.”
Earlier this month, Fia confirmed Julia has taken a series of DNA and blood tests.
She told The Sun: "We are still waiting on the result of DNA testing that will show us exactly what Julia’s ethnic background is and what country she and her true family are from. These kinds of tests are very accurate.
“Of course depending on the result of that we will continue our investigation to see if Julia is could be Madeleine or another missing person.”
Madeleine was four years old when she disappeared from a holiday apartment while on holiday in Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007.
Julia says she is 21 but believes her age could be wrong. Madeleine was born in May 2003, meaning that she would now be 19.
Mystery has surrounded the search for Madeleine in recent years but no trace of her has ever been found.
The parents of Madeleine McCann, Kate and Gerry, have yet to comment on the recent updates of the saga.
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