American woman says she has DNA ‘proof’ that she is Madeleine McCann
A 22-year-old American woman claims she is Madeleine McCann just days after a Polish woman who also claimed to be Madeleine was arrested for stalking her parents.
Eugenea Collins, from Arkansas, told DailyMail.com she started to think she was Madeleine when she saw Julia Wandelt appear on Dr Phil’s show.
The young woman said she also started to question her identity when she couldn’t get a copy of her birth certificate when she tried to get new ID.
She also believes that her biological dad – Eugene Collins – is convicted paedophile and main suspect in the case Christian Brueckner.
She said: ‘I am unable to get any kind of identification. I couldn’t even get any help from the people at the red cross when my house was burned because I have no identification.
‘I have never seen an original birth certificate neither. The only thing I saw had someone else’s name wrote on it and they marked that out and wrote mine above it.’
Talking about her dad, she said: ‘I saw pictures of the suspect and he looks like my biological father or who I’ve been told is my biological father my whole life.
‘I never had any relationship with this man whatsoever and I was always told he was a little off in the head.
‘When I first saw the photos of Christian Brueckner I instantly recognised that man.’
Eugenea also claims she wrote about her kidnapping while in school and described herself wearing a dress similar to one Madeleine wore.
She added: ‘If it wasn’t for me seeing her (Julia) on the Dr. Phil show I would’ve never known. In a way her stupidity actually helped me find my family.
‘I saw the age progressions and it was like I was looking in a mirror. I just know I saw pictures of myself online and it says I’m missing.’
But Eugenea does not have any DNA connection to the McCann family.
She says she has tried to contact the Metropolitan Police and that her local police department in Arkansas have not taken her seriously.
Eugenea has taken an Ancestry test – which shows she is 68% English and Northwestern Europen.
She hopes that this test will help prove that she is Madeleine McCann – who has been missing since 2007 after a family holiday to Praia da Luz, Portugal.
Unsurprisingly, people across social media are sceptical of Eugenea’s claims.
Girlzshoper33 wrote: ‘The reason I’m not convinced is because I don’t see the same spot on the eye in any photo.’
‘Not to be rude here, but your eye doesn’t have that defect in it like she does,’ Tawni Tavenner added.
Mamalu_101 commented: ‘Girl unless you have the eye thing that Madeline had please stop this nonsense.’
But Eugenea hit back at the critics and said: ‘People keep saying something about [my] ears not being a match, but I have scars on mine.
‘Never noticed them until they pointed out they were different, I had my boyfriend look at the back of them and they have scars on them.’
The Metropolitan Police and Arkansas State Police have been contacted for comment.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.