Family of Julia Faustyna refuses DNA test after Madeleine McCann claim
The family of a Polish woman who claims to be kidnapped toddler Madeleine McCann has reportedly refused to take a DNA test that could solve the mystery of whether she’s really the missing girl.
The mother of Julia Faustyna, 21, won’t hand over a genetic sample but insists she has documents proving Faustyna is her birth daughter, a private detective told the UK Sun.
“I have been personally talking to Julia’s mother and told her we will make her safe and secure in any way she needs but she is still refusing to take the test,” Fia Johansson, who is representing Faustyna, told the outlet.
“She claims she has Julia’s birth certificate but our worry is that you can easily forge this. My feeling is that we need to force the mother or a member of Julia’s family to take the DNA test,” added Johansson, who is also a psychic medium and psychologist.
If any of Faustyna’s direct family members agree to take a DNA test, it could immediately shed light on whether her claims are true, Johansson said.
“We could solve this. But they are refusing to,” she told the outlet, which did not report the names of Faustyna’s family members.
Faustyna, who also goes by Julia Wendell or Julia Wandelt, has documented apparent physical similarities between herself and Madeleine online — including facial moles and a distinct brown smudge on each girl’s right iris.
In her social media posts, the Polish woman also said she was abused by a German pedophile, without elaborating.
She claims to be suspicious of her parents in part because she’s never seen photos of her mom pregnant.
Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, have previously agreed to take a DNA test but Johansson says it’s “not necessary” to disrupt them.
If Faustyna’s parents simply take a DNA test, it could show she’s related to them — and rule out that she’s the abducted girl, she said.
Meanwhile, a second private detective linked to the case, Francisco Marco, has cast doubt on her claims — and sources have said they may be causing Kate and Gerry McCann anguish.
“It causes unnecessary pain for Kate and Gerry,” a source told the Sun. “So many false claims have been made over the years and they don’t need any more.”
Johansson said she became involved with the McCann case after a detective first got in touch with her in 2019, then reached back out after Faustyna claimed to be the missing girl.
“They said they didn’t know if Julia was legitimate or not yet but that it was worth looking into,” she said.
Madeleine vanished from her bed while on vacation in Portugal in May 2007. She was 3 years old.
The missing girl, who would be 19 years old now, has been presumed dead.