Hoax or not: Julia Faustyna's 'evidence' for claiming she could be Madeleine McCann is questionable
LONDON, ENGLAND: A couple of major issues have undermined a young woman's claim that she is indeed Madeleine McCann. Julia Faustyna, from Wroclaw, Poland, grabbed headlines over the weekend as she shared "evidence" on social media that she's the missing British girl. The 21-year-old posted a series of photographs in order to prove her likeness to Maddie and her parents Gerry and Kate McCann.
Madeleine McCann, from Leicestershire, UK, disappeared from her bed during a family vacation in the Portuguese resort town Praia da Luz on the evening of May 3, 2007, when her parents were dining at a restaurant just meters away from their holiday apartment. She was three years old at the time of her disappearance, which means she would be 19 if she were alive today. Julia has now claimed a member of the McCann family agreed to a DNA test, albeit this is yet to be confirmed.
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No official statement
There are two issues with Julia's claim despite some similarities between her and Maddie, according to news.com.au. Firstly, no one from the Find Madeleine campaign nor London's Metropolitan Police has issued a statement with respect to the claims, despite the latter having an open investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, Operation Grange. Speaking to news.com.au, a spokesman for the department said they had nothing specific to say on the new claim, but noted the probe into Maddie's disappearance was still active. It's worth noting that previous updates on the case have been corroborated by the Met and the McCanns, thereby suggesting Julia's claim is not being taken seriously. The last major update on the case came in June 2020, when law enforcement in Britain and Germany launched a new appeal for witnesses after revealing their new suspect, jailed pedophile Christian Brueckner.
Brueckner was charged in Germany last year with three counts of aggravated rape and two counts of sexual abuse of children between 2000 and 2017. However, none of the alleged offenses were in connection with Madeleine. The McCanns welcomed the renewed appeal for information in a statement issued at the time. Two weeks later, they issued another statement refuting false media reports that there was evidence indicating their daughter had died. “If there are important developments that can be made public, they will be issued through official police channels,” the family insisted at the time.
Questionable 'evidence'
Another issue with Julia's claim is that many observers online have agreed she does not look like Madeleine. She shared a video to illustrate how marks on her body were similar to the missing girl's. Another comparison composite she cites as "evidence" suggests both have similar facial structure.
The most striking comparison, however, is an image showing Julia with what appears to be a similar eye defect as Madeleine, caused by an extremely rare condition called coloboma in her right eye. However, many online declared the marking on Julia's eye is slightly different than Madeleine's.
Meanwhile, others insisted Julia also appeared to have a different jawline than Madeleine. Some, however, pointed out that her facial structure may have changed slightly in the last 16 years.
Julia told her followers she wasn't looking to go viral and that she "truly believes" she is Madeleine. She revealed in an Instagram post that many had condemned her for seeking a DNA test. “Thank you for the support that you give me and for haters I have to say that I am not kidding and I truly believe that I can be her,” she wrote, adding, “I didn’t take money from anyone and I am not going to do this because police should do a DNA test to me and compare it with Kate and Gerry McCann DNA.”