Family of woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann break their silence & say ‘we’re ‘devastated’

THE family of a woman claiming to be missing Madeleine McCann have spoken out to say they’re “devastated”.

Julia Wandelt, 21, has gone viral after claiming to be Maddie, who vanished on a family holiday in in May 2007, sparking an international search effort.

Now, Julia’s family in have spoken out to say they have proof that she is not who she believes she is.

Polish missing persons organisation Missing Years Ago have released a statement from the family on Facebook.

It read: “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.”

They revealed that Julia has moved out of the family home and has been refusing treatment for mental health issues.

Hinting at her motivations, they added: “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.”

For her part, Julia has said that she started to believe she was Maddie “a few months ago” after hearing “something” from her grandma.

The young woman has said that she doesn’t remember large parts of her childhood, but that she was abused by a German paedophile who was once a suspect in Maddie’s disappearance.

She also claimed that Maddie’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, had asked her to take a DNA test.

According to the , a source close to the McCann’s 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.”