Julia Faustyna’s parents deny she’s Madeleine McCann

The family of the Polish woman claiming to be kidnapped British toddler Madeleine McCann has broken their silence to deny she is the long-missing girl — saying that she suffers from mental health issues and ignored their pleas to stop with her “lies and manipulation.”

Julia Faustyna, 21, who also goes by Julia Wendell or Julia Wandelt, said they are “devastated” by the media attention that she has gotten for posting viral videos online claiming that she is Madeleine, who was abducted when she was 3 years old on vacation in Portugal in 2007.

“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,” the family said in a statement through the missing persons’ organization Missing Years Ago,

“Julia also has these photos, because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges.

The family claims that Faustyna suffers from mental health issues and denied pulling her out of therapy, as she claims they did when she started “asking questions.”

“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,” they said.

“She also did not take advantage of the treatment opportunity at a very good center in Poland, which agreed to accept her,” they added.

The family also alleges that she was motivated by the attention she was receiving.

“Julia once wanted to be a singer, a model. She always wanted to be popular. What’s happening now she got one million followers,” the statement.

They also expressed their fears that the intense coverage will haunt their daughter.

“The internet won’t forget, and it’s obvious that Julia isn’t Maddie,” they said. “We are devastated at this current situation. 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,” they said. “We would like to take a stance on Julia’s case, which has spread the internet and media in many countries in recent days.”

Faustyna had documented apparent physical similarities between herself and Madeleine, including facial moles and a brown mark on each girl’s right iris.  

She had also claimed in social media posts that she has post-traumatic amnesia after being sexually abused by a German pedophile whose identity she does not know. But she said she recognizes the alleged attacker in a composite image posted on the Find Madeleine website.

She said she will go to court seeking a DNA test from her parents to clear up the matter, 7NEWS reported.

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But Private investigator Fia Johansson told the UK Sun that Faustyna’s mom won’t hand over a genetic sample.

“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,” Johansson, who is representing Faustyna, told The Sun.

Johannsson, however, has acknowledged that but claims Faustyna’s mother has documents proving the woman is her birth daughter.

Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, have previously agreed to take a DNA test but Johansson said it was “not necessary” to disrupt them.

Francisco Marco, a private detective who has led the probe in the case, also has cast doubts on Faustyna’s claims, saying the details “don’t add up.”

“I don’t think it’s her,” Marco, head of the Spanish agency Metodo 3, told Spanish news outlet El Independiente in a translation, 7NEWS reported.

Faustyna also has acknowledged that she “might not be” Madeleine.