The family of the young woman who believes she is Madeleine McCann have released a bombshell statement saying they are 'devastated at this current situation'. Julia Wendell went viral after she created the Instagram account @iammadeleinemccann and presented 'evidence' she is the youngster who mysteriously disappeared in Praia da Luz on the night of May 3, 2007.
The 21-year-old from Poland claims she started wondering whether or not she was the missing Brit 'a few months ago' after hearing 'something from her grandma' and is believed to have a speck in her eye just like Maddie. Julia has accumulated thousands of followers since her wild claims and also said Kate and Gerry McCann have asked her to take a DNA test, the Daily Star reports.
A source close to the McCanns reportedly said: "The family are taking no chances, they are willing to look at all leads. It is important they look at all of the factors, the girl does look similar. There’s no disputing that."
Julia says she doesn't remember large chunks of her childhood and alleges she was abused by a German paedophile who was once a suspect in Madeleine's unsolved disappearance.
Now, Polish missing persons organisation Missing Years Ago have taken to Facebook to release a statement on behalf of her family. In it, they claim to have 'memories' and 'pictures' of the 21-year-old growing up, stating it is 'obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece , cousin and step niece'.
They also said Julia left their family home and took images of herself as a child along with her birth certificate. They don't understand why Julia is making the claims and say they have tried to help her with medicine and therapy, something which Julia has allegedly denied.
The statement reads: "For us as a family it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step niece. We have memories, we have pictures.
"Julia also has these photos, because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges. We always tried to understand all situations that happened with Julia.
"Numerous therapies, medicines, psychologists and psychiatrists - Julia had it all guaranteed. She wasn't left alone. Threats to our address from Julia, her lies and manipulations, activity on the internet.
"We've seen it all and we've tried to prevent it, to explain, we've asked her to stop. We always tried to help her get back on her feet. Julia has been of age for several years.
"She has moved out of the house. She refuses treatment, doesn't take medicines regularly. She also did not take advantage of the treatment opportunity at a very good centre in Poland, which agreed to accept her.
"Julia once wanted to be a singer, a model. She always wanted to be popular.
"What's happening now she got one million followers. We're afraid Julia will carry the inevitable.
"The internet won't forget, and it's obvious that Julia isn't Maddie. We are devastated at this current situation."
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