An expert has shown what Madeleine McCann ‘looks like now’ in comparison to the woman who is claiming to be her.
It could be the key to solving the mystery of whether this woman truly is Madeleine McCann.
A facial recognition expert claims she’s come up with the answer to the question on everyone’s lips …
“I hope so much this can finally offer closure to her poor parents,” another agreed.
“This would be so crazy if it were true,” one person commented.
However, not everyone was buying it.
“This all just seems like a publicity stunt to me,” one added.
Here’s what we know so far…
For years now, the mystery of missing child Madeleine McCann has shaken the world.
The 3-year-old girl went missing 15 years ago.
It happened while the British family were on holiday in Portugal.
Kate and Gerry McCann were from Leicestershire, UK.
And had left their children unattended while on holiday in Praia de Luz.
The parents went to a nearby Tapas restaurant to eat.
Leaving Maddie and younger siblings, Amelie and Sean alone in the hotel room, asleep.
At around 9pm, Kate went to check on the children.
She saw the three of them comfortably asleep, so returned to the tapas bar.
At 10 PM on May 3, 2007, Kate returned to her hotel room to check.
And saw the window open and Madeleine gone.
Police searched the nearby area from the moment the missing child was reported.
Not stopping until the next morning.
Police also alerted border controls in Portugal.
This was to ensure early doors that Madeleine could be not be trafficked.
On 12 May, the McCanns say they “cannot describe the anguish and despair.”
While police assured the media Madeleine was still alive and in Portugal.
Initially, the McCann parents came under scrutiny by authorities.
Registered sex offenders in the local area also came under suspicion.
On 26 May, police issued a description of a man seen on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance.
It’s believed he was possibly carrying a child.
Anglo-Portuguese property developer Robert Murat was one of the first suspects.
But he was released and cleared of the crime soon afterward.
It wasn’t until over 100 days after the crime that authorities admitted there was a chance she could have been killed.
But the case has remained mysterious.
The handling of the case has been subject to critisim.
In particular, the way forensics teams neglected to properly protect the crime scene, losing possible evidence.
Gerry McCann also claimed he believed his family was targeted by a “predator.”
The McCanns also released police sketches of a suspect, based on a description by a fellow tourist of a “creepy man.”
The McCanns became more overtly critical of the police.
Gerry McCann said he found it “incredibly frustrating” that the investigations has been stalled “for a very long time”.
Five years after the incident, Kate wrote a tell-all book about the case.
This led to Scotland Yard reopening the case in the hopes of finding answers.
Prime Minister David Cameron asks the Metropolitan Police to step in.
A two-year investigation by British authorities followed.
This led to the age-projected photos of Maddie being released to the public.
Which will become a major part of the story later …
This new investigation is called Operation Grange.
And in 2014, it lead to British police and sniffer dogs arriving in Portugal.
But this was to no avail.
The police also revealed that the investigations into Madeleine had cost more than £10 million ($13 million).
In 2019, Portuguese detectives reported they were investigating a foreign pedophile.
This was later revealed to be 43-year-old German Christian Brueckner.
There have been countless explorations into the case.
Including a smash-hit Netflix documentary on the subject.
A girl has gone viral on social media for claiming she believes she is Madeleine herself.
Julia Faustyna, 21, hit major headlines after she started posting on social media under the handle @iammadeleinemccann.
In one Instagram posts, Faustyna writes that she does not remember most of her early life.
Except “holidays in a hot place where was beach and White or very light couloured buildings with apartaments [sic].”
“I don’t see my family in this memory.”
Julia also claims it was her grandmother who first told her she was Madeleine McCann.
Julia has also pointed out physical similarities between herself and Madeleine.
“I have similar eyes, shape of face, ears, lips, I had the gap between the teeth,” she wrote.
And Julia had one major aim in mind.
“I need to know the truth. I need dna test and I need to talk with Madeleine’s parents. Help me!”
Faustyna also shared the police sketch of the man reported by witnesses as carrying a child away from the scene of the crime.
“I recognize this person..it looks very similar to my abuser,” she claimed.
In a different post, she claims to have been abused by a “German pedophile.”
However, Julia’s claims have also come under scrutiny.
Faustyna is a 21-year-old aspiring musician and model.
This has led some to believe she’s making these claims solely for publicity.
She claims her boyfriend “wants to leave me because of this case.”
And she has previously gone by names Julia Wendell or Julia Wandelt.
Her “mental health at this moment is not good,” spokesperson Dr. Fia Johansson shared in a video update to Faustyna’s Instagram profile.
“She needs help,” Johansson continued.
“It does not add up to me,” he concluded.
Whether he believes Julia is lying is not yet known.
There’s also her “challenging and messy” background to consider.
Nonetheless, there has since been a huge breakthrough.
Julia has updated her Instagram bio with “Kate and Gerry McCann agreed for DNA test!”
While a source told the Daily Beast that this is true!
Although Julia has not yet confirmed this news officially to the press.
While Kate and Gerry McCann have also not yet been reached for comment.
The requests for DNA testing were then denied by Julia’s family.
“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 UK Sun.
“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,” they continued.
“We could solve this. But they are refusing to.”
As for German sex offender Christian Brückner, 45, he is still under investigation.
He was a handyman in Praia de Luz at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance, and had previously served time for rape.
In fact, he is serving time for three counts of rape and two charges of child sex abuse, not related to Madeleine’s disappearance.
But his involvement in Madeleine’s case remains a mystery.
“We welcome the news that the Portuguese authorities have declared a German man an ‘arguido’ [suspect] in relation to the disappearance of our beloved daughter Madeleine,” the McCanns wrote on their website at the time.
“Even though the possibility may be slim, we have not given up hope that Madeleine is still alive and we will be reunited with her.”
The McCanns thanked police, saying: “All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice.
“We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace.”
However, results have now reportedly come in from Julia’s biometric analysis.
As Francisco Marco has told RAC1: “I have done a biometric search and there is no resemblance to Madeleine’s features.”
He added: “I can think it’s a fraud, but I can’t say without evidence.”
“This girl contacted the police and no one paid attention to her, and she later opened the Instagram account where she now has thousands of followers when she had very few before.”
Bow, facial “super-recognizer” Simone Malik has offered her expertise to the Daily Star.
She said: “I believe that this isn’t Madeleine McCann – obviously DNA is the only thing that would prove it.
“If she could get a DNA that would be fantastic because it would put to rest the distress she is going through.
“On first impressions, when I looked at Julia Wendell I didn’t see any kind of family resemblance – at all.
“For me what really gave it away is her jawline.
“In my earlier drawing of Madeleine McCann, I really emphasized that jawline.
“Even as a youngster when you look at her, at those pictures, I imagine [she] would grow up to have a jawline [that’s] sharp and chiseled, an angular jawline very much like her mother Kate McCann.
“So, if you look at Julia, she has a very prominent chin, a long prominent chin, a rounded jawline which in earlier pictures you can actually see the jawline is very rounded and it goes up, it’s quite long. There are no angles to her jawline whatsoever.
“Also I believe that Madeleine would [have] very distinctive dimples – distinctive. With Julia, they’re not there either. She’s got a slight dimpling but slightly – most people can have that.
“Madeleine has got very distinct dimples, very defined dimples compared to Julia. For me her jawline and the fact that Julia doesn’t have those dimples like Madeleine.
“And the fact Julia’s mouth is also very different to what Madeleine’s is – Madeleine’s got a very thin upper lip. Again it’s like Kate McCann’s lip – the shape the size everything is very very much like Kate’s.
“I would definitely say this is not the case, this is not Madeleine McCann that we’re looking at.
“Even as a child Julia has got a full upper lip and she’s got a full bottom lip – Madeleine McCann’s lip area is identical to Kate McCann’s. We’re not looking at Madeleine McCann here at all.”
Take a look at the groundbreaking images here.
What do you think of this new development?