THE family of a woman claiming to be missing Madeleine McCann have spoken out to say they’re “devastated”.
Julia Faustyna, age 21, has gone viral after claiming to be Maddie, who disappeared during a family vacation in Portugal in May 2007, sparking an international search effort.
Now, Julia’s family in Poland has revealed that they have evidence that she is not who she claims to be.
The Polish missing persons organisation Absent Years Ago has issued a Facebook statement from the family.
It states: “For our family, Julia is clearly our daughter, granddaughter, sibling, niece, cousin, and step niece. We have memories and photographs.
“These photographs are also in Julia’s possession, as she took them from the family residence along with the birth certificate and numerous hospital discharges.
“We attempted to comprehend every circumstance involving Julia. Numerous therapies, medications, psychologists, and psychiatrists were all guaranteed for Julia. She was not abandoned.
“Julia’s threats to our address, her falsehoods and manipulations, and her online activity. We’ve witnessed it all, and in an effort to prevent it, we’ve asked her to cease.”
They disclosed that Julia has moved out of the family residence and has refused mental health treatment.
Indicating her motives, they added: “Julia once desired careers as a singer and model. She has always desired popularity. The current situation is that she has one million followers.
“We are concerned that Julia will bear the inevitable. Julia is obviously not Maddie, as the internet will never forget.
We are devastated by the current state of affairs.
According to Julia, she began believing she was Maddie “a few months ago” after hearing “something” from her grandmother.
The young woman has stated that she cannot recall large portions of her childhood, but that she was exploited by a German paedophile who was once a suspect in the disappearance of Maddie.
She also claimed that Kate and Gerry McCann, Maddie’s parents, had asked her to undergo a DNA test.
The Daily Star quotes a source close to the McCann family as saying: “The family is not taking any chances and is willing to investigate all leads.
“It is crucial that they consider all factors, as the two girls appear to be comparable. There is no doubt about that.”
