Polish woman claims to be missing British toddler Madeleine McCann

A young woman from Poland is claiming to be Madeleine McCann, a British toddler who disappeared 16 years ago while on holiday with her family in Portugal.

The story of 22-year-old Julia Wendel went viral on social media this week after she claimed she has proof that she is in fact the missing girl.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

According to Wendel – who has a resemblance to Gary and Kate McCann – she has the same eye deformity that the little girl has and was abused by a German man who was the key suspect in the disappearance.

Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared from a holiday flat in Portugal in 2007. (File photo: Reuters)

Three-year-old Madeleine McCann went missing on the evening of May 3, 2007, while vacationing with her family in Portugal’s Praia da Luz.

At the time of her disappearance, the young girl was sleeping in a holiday apartment with her siblings while her parents were dining at a nearby restaurant.

When her mother checked on her later that evening, she discovered that Madeleine was missing.

The McCann family are reportedly in contact with Wendel and are working on having her DNA tested to check if she is a match, media reports said.

Wendel said that she first learnt about the missing case when she started researching because of discrepancies in her parents’ stories about her childhood.

While the missing girl would be 19 years old, Wendel believes her parents could have lied about her age. She also claims to have never seen pictures of her mother pregnant.

“The memories are very blurry, and when I talked about them with my parents, things didn’t match up. They always tried to change the subject,” several media reports cited Wendel as saying.

“My teacher at school said that I didn’t always attend school, but my parents insist that I did. After all that confusion, I started doing my own research, I discovered what happened to Madeleine McCann and I connected the dots. It’s so stressful trying to get people to believe me,” she added.

A source close to the McCann family told ‘The Sunday Mirror’ that the family was going to check all references and would not be taking any risks when it comes to finding their missing daughter.

Read more:

European court rules against parents of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann

UK toddler McCann case suspect may face more jail time after EU court ruling

Madeleine McCann disappearance: German cops identify new suspect