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Julia Wandelt's claims raise doubts about whether she could be 'German Madeleine McCann' Inga Gehricke

Julia Wandelt claimed she was Madeleine McCann, who had gone missing in 2007, but people theorized that she could be the missing German girl Inga Gehricke

WROCLAW, POLAND: Everyone seems to be getting more and more interested in cases of missing children ever since a Polish girl named Julia Wandelt claimed she was Madeleine McCann, who went missing from Portugal in 2007. Now, the case of Inga Gehricke, another German girl who had gone missing, has attracted attention with several netizens theorizing that she might be Wandelt.

Wandelt, a Polish native from Wroclaw, made news when she posted "evidence" on social media claiming to be McCann, a tourist from Leicestershire who went missing from Praia da Luz with her family on May 3, 2007. She was three years old when she disappeared, so if she were alive today, she would be 19 years old. MEAWW earlier reported that Wandelt allegedly said that McCann's family consented to a DNA test, albeit this has not been verified. As there are so many loose ends, the mystery of Gehricke has attracted attention with unrpoven theories online, claiming she could be Wandelt.

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What happened to Inga Gehricke?

Gehricke was the pride and joy of her family and had a smile that could light up a room. She was from the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and was five when she went missing in 2015 during a family outing. Gehricke had joined her parents, Victoria and Jens-Uwe, her brothers, Maxim and Julius, and her sister, Freya, on a delightful family outing. They had driven 50 miles to the Diakoniewerk Wilhelmshof woods, west of Berlin, to meet friends for a barbecue.

Gehricke had a wonderful time playing with the other children as their parents got supper going. Dressed in a butterfly T-shirt and blue trousers, she was eager to assist her parents and was carrying water bottles to the table where they could sit down to eat. It was at that time that two other children noticed her leaving the table to go inside their friends' home through the trees as the sun began to set. That was the last time Gehricke's family and friends saw her. Her devastated father reportedly said, "It was only 100 meters to the house. But she never got there," according to The Mirror.

Similarities between Madeleine McCann and Inga Gehricke

There are uncanny parallels that exist between the disappearances of Gehricke and McCann. The two girls disappeared when they were out with their family on an excursion, per Mirror, and neither left behind any sign of their whereabouts. It doesn't stop there. The search for missing Gehricke also attracted the attention of German national Christian Brueckner, a suspect in the McCann case.

The Gehricke investigation, according to Bild, focused on Brueckner in 2016. It was also reported that he was in Saxony-Anhalt when Gehricke disappeared 'without a trace' on a family outing in 2015. Gehricke disappeared on May 2, 2015, almost precisely eight years to the day after McCann went missing while vacationing with her family at the Praia de Luz resort.

Gehricke's family began a desperate search for her after assuming the young girl had wandered off to gather more firewood. Her parents have maintained their belief that their daughter is still alive for the eight years following her abduction, just like Gerry and Kate McCann have been doing for McCann.

'DNA would be the best way to tell'

Wandelt is now widely believed to be Gehricke on Twitter, with one user writing, "I was reading about the girl who thinks she's madeleine mccann (I didn't think she was similar), except that she's extremely similar to another German child who's been missing for years, Inga Gehricke my head the first picture is of inga gehricke."

Another person who preferred the DNA findings wrote, "I personally think she resembles Inga Gehricke a bit more than Madeleine McCann. DNA would be the best way to tell." A third person wrote, "This girl who thinks she's Madeleine Mccann is 100% Inga Gehricke. Uncanny resemblance."

This other individual who also feels DNA test would help wrote, "With Madelene I didn't find them so similar, but with Inga Gehricke I found them very similar, but it's only the DNA test that will tell." One more who has "0 doubts" of Wandelt being Gehricke wrote, "Ok, The Girl in question, looks more like Inga Gehricke (Girl who was also kidnapped at the same time) than Madeleine McCan I have 0 proofs and 0 doubts."

This article contains remarks made on the internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online