Woman Who Claimed to Be Madeleine McCann Apologizes to Girl’s Parents

Julia Faustyna, the 21-year-old Polish woman who became an internet phenomenon for insisting she’s Madeleine McCann, apologized to the missing girl’s parents Tuesday after a DNA test debunked her story. “It wasn’t my intention to bring sadness or any other negative emotion to anyone, especially to McCann’s family,” Faustyna said in a 17-page statement posted to social media. “My main purpose was always to find out who I am and what exactly happened in my very hurtful past.” Madeleine McCann was 3 when she vanished in 2007 while on a family vacation in Portugal. Earlier this year, Faustyna began making claims that she was McCann, creating an Instagram account under McCann’s name. A DNA test concluded last week that Faustyna was not Kate and Gerry McCann’s daughter. Even so, Faustyna insisted there’s still a chance. “‘I still believe that it’s a possibility that I could be Madeleine,” she wrote.