Woman from Poland claims to be missing toddler Madeleine McCann

A 22-year-old woman from Poland is claiming that she has proof that she is Madeleine McCann, the British girl who disappeared 16 years ago while on holiday with her family in Portugal.

The young woman, Julia Wendel, who went viral on social media after posting her claim, said last week that during her childhood, she was abused by a German pedophile who was a key suspect in the disappearance. She also claimed that the McCann family turned to her to conduct a DNA test to check if they were a match.

According to Wendel, she has the same defect in her eye that the missing toddler had, and she looks like her parents, Gary and Kate.

Someone close to the McCann family said that "the family isn't taking any risks and is willing to check any references. It's important that they look at all the factors, and the girl does indeed look similar. No one is debating that. If what she says is true, there is a chance that it's her."

Wendel was unaware of the McCann disappearance

According to Wendel, she hadn't heard about the McCann disappearance until she started asking her parents questions about her childhood of which she has no memories.

"The memories are very blurry, and when I talked about them with my parents, things didn't match up. They always tried to change the subject," she said.

"My teacher at school said that I didn't always attend school, but my parents insist that I did," she continued. "After all that confusion, I started doing my own research, I discovered what happened to Madeleine McCann and I connected the dots. It's so stressful trying to get people to believe me."

Wendel hopes to get in contact with the McCanns in the next few days.