A Polish woman's claim about being Madeleine McCann, a Briton who was abducted as a toddler in Portugal during a family vacation nearly 16 years ago, was dismissed Monday by results of a DNA test.
Julia Faustyna, 21, had been claiming on Instagram and TikTok that she was McCann, who disappeared from her bed at age 3 on May 3, 2007, because of similarities in their age and appearance.
But Fia Johansson, a private investigator working with Faustyna, revealed the test results late Monday.
"She is absolutely 100 percent from Poland," Johansson told RadarOnline.com. "She is a small percentage of Lithuanian and Russian, but the test results show she is Polish."
During an appearance on "Dr. Phil" on March 24, Faustyna insisted she was McCann despite her parents claiming she was their biological child. She denied her parents' claims she stole her birth certificate and childhood photos to hide her true identity.
"For us as a family, it is obvious Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step niece. We have memories, we have pictures," her parents said in a written statement revealed on the show. "Julia also has these photos because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges."
The New York Post reported Monday that Faustyna went to great lengths to prove she is McCann, including submitting samples for three forensic examinations to outline her DNA sequence and a 23andMe-style genetic test to establish her ancestry.
Faustyna, who is also known as Julia Wendell or Julia Wandelt, previously said if the results proved she isn't McCann, she still wouldn't want contact with her biological family, The Post reported.
"If she is my mother, I don't want to have contact with her, that's all, but I believe she isn't my mother," she said.
The Post reported police investigating McCann's disappearance have spent about $16 million on Operation Grange since 2011, and are expected to receive $370,000 in new funding for the investigation.
Madeleine's parents have not publicly commented on Faustyna's claims, The Post reported.
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