Woman who claims to be Madeleine McCann to be grilled in TV interview: 'Cruel hoax?'
Julia Faustyna and her private detective Fia Johansson have been grilled by Dr Phil on whether or not she truly is Maddie McCann.
The Polish woman who claims to be missing Madeleine McCann has given an exclusive television interview with famed American host Dr Phil which will air next week.
Julia Faustyna, also referred to as Julia Wendell, has persisted with her belief that she is the missing girl who was abducted as a child from her family's hotel room in Portugal in 2007, and who would now be 19.
After launching a now deleted Instagram account last month, which drew attention to similarities between herself and Madeleine, the 21-year-old Polish woman has remained in the spotlight as millions have been gripped by the latest developments in one of the world's most infamous missing child cases.
After receiving several death threats online and her own family discrediting her claims, Julia was forced to flee to the US with her private detective and psychic Fia Johansson by her side. Despite the increased scrutiny, the pair agreed to speak to Dr Phil who hopes to determine whether or not she is Madeleine.
"Has McCann finally been found? Or, is this a cruel hoax?" the caption attached to the interview's promotional video read.
Facial recognition test suggests Julia is not missing Madeleine
A Swiss software company reportedly ran a facial recognition test between childhood pictures of the two girls and said the answer from the results was clear — Julia is not Madeleine.
Speaking to 7 News last week, CEO Christian Fehrlin explained the software has "proven to be very accurate" with the results it produces, and shared it was "impossible" the two girls were the same person.
“In the case of Julia, her childhood photos were matched with her current face and also a current photo with a photo of Maddie,” Mr Fehrlin said. "It is 99 per cent impossible that Julia is the missing Maddie."
However, Julia persists with her claims, sharing in the Dr Phil promotional video that she is "awaiting the results" of a DNA test to understand once and for all if she is the missing woman.
"I believe I am Madeleine McCann," she said.
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