Madeleine McCann’s parents agree to DNA-test woman claiming to be their daughter

 Missing British child Madeleine McCann’s parents have agreed to a DNA test for a Polish woman who believes she’s their daughter — though even representatives for the young woman making the stunning claims admit that her background is “messy.”

Gerry and Kate McCann, whose 3-year-old daughter, Madeleine, disappeared on vacation in Portugal over 15 years ago, are following up on Julia Faustyna’s claims that she is the kidnapped toddler, a source told the Daily Beast this week.

Faustyna, 21, became an internet sensation this month after she started posting on social media under the handle @iammadeleinemccann. Earlier this week, she updated her Instagram bio with “Kate and Gerry McCann agreed for DNA test!” 

In one of her first Instagram posts, Faustyna writes that she does not remember most of her early life except “holidays in a hot place where was [a] beach and White or very light couloured [sic] buildings with apartaments [sic].”

Many of Faustyna’s posts document apparent physical similarities between herself and Madeleine, including a distinctive brown smudge on both girls’ right irises.

“I have similar eyes, shape of face, ears, lips, I had the gap between the teeths [as Madeleine],” she wrote in one post alongside several photos of both herself and the missing tot.

Julia Faustyna claims that she is kidnapped British toddler Madeleine McCann.

Kate and Gerry McCann are reportedly submitting DNA to determine Faustyna’s identity.

REUTERS

“I need to know the truth. I need [a] dna test and I need to talk with Madeleine’s parents. Help me!”

In other posts, Faustyna points out perceived resemblances between herself and Gerry and Kate McCann.

Madeleine, of Leicestershire, was last seen sleeping alongside her infant siblings in her family’s Praia de Luz vacation rental on May 3, 2007. When Kate McCann checked on her children around 10 p.m., she found the bedroom door and window open and Madeleine gone.

Madeleine McCann (left) and Julia Faustyna (right) as children.

Instagram / @iammadeleinemccan

Madeleine McCann has been missing for over 15 years.

AP

In her posts, Faustyna also shared the police sketch of the man multiple witnesses saw carrying a child in the resort the night Madeleine disappeared.

“I recognise this person..it looks very similar to my abbuser [sic],” she wrote.

While it is unclear what kind of abuse Faustyna may have suffered, she makes references in her posts to being victimized by a “German pedophile.”

News that the McCanns are reportedly pursuing Faustyna’s claims, however, comes amid growing concern about the young woman’s mental state.

Faustyna says she and Madeleine have the same smudge on their right iris.

Instagram / @iammadeleinemccan

“[Julia’s] mental health at this moment is not good,” spokesperson Dr. Fia Johansson, also known as “Persian Medium,” shared in a video update to Faustyna’s Instagram profile on Monday.

“She needs help,” Johansson continued, noting that Faustyna’s background is “challenging and messy.”

Johansson did not reply to The Post’s request for a comment. A representative for Gerry and Kate McCann could also not be immediately reached. 

Christian Brückner was identified as a suspect in the McCann case last spring.

ITALIAN CARABINIERI PRESS OFFICE

Though local authorities initially suspected Gerry and Kate of killing their daughter and disposing of her body, investigators later surmised that Madeleine was possibly kidnapped by German sex offender Christian Brückner.

Authorities reportedly are still investigating Brückner, 45, who was formally identified as a suspect in the McCann case in April 2022.

According to the Daily Beast, Brückner was a handyman in Praia de Luz at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance. He is serving a seven-year sentence for raping a 72-year-old woman at the resort in September 2005.

“We welcome the news that the Portuguese authorities have declared a German man an ‘arguido’ [suspect] in relation to the disappearance of our beloved daughter Madeleine,” the McCanns wrote on their website following Brückner’s official identification last year.

“Even though the possibility may be slim, we have not given up hope that Madeleine is still alive and we will be reunited with her.”

https://nypost.com/2023/02/21/madeleine-mccann-parents-agree-to-dna-test-polish-woman/

Skin-rotting drug ‘tranq’ infiltrates big cities: ‘Zombifying bodies’

 There’s a new drug in town — and it has deadly consequences.

Xylazine — otherwise known as “tranq,” “tranq dope” and “zombie drug” — is wreaking havoc in major cities across the country with its devastating effects: It can literally rot the user’s skin.

The substance, which seemed to first appear in Philadelphia before migrating west to San Francisco and Los Angeles, was used for cutting heroin, but, most recently, it has been discovered in fentanyl and other illicit drugs.

While approved by the Food and Drug Administration for veterinary use, xylazine, a non-opioid, is not safe for humans, and those who overdose on the drug do not respond to naloxone, or Narcan, the most common overdose reversal treatment.

Xylazine causes sedative-like symptoms, such as excessive sleepiness and respiratory depression, as well as raw wounds that can become severe and spread rapidly with repeated exposure. The crusty ulcerations, which can become dead skin called eschar, can result in amputation if left untreated.

Because it is not listed as a controlled substance for animals or humans, “tranq” lands in a confusing and horrifying gray area — and hospitals rarely test for it with routine toxicology screenings.

A homeless person is shown in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, where “tranq” has saturated the city. “Tranq is basically zombifying people’s bodies,” one user said.

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

“Tranq” is worrying medical experts as its presence rises in substances.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Last month, one Philly user suddenly developed xylazine-specific wounds near her opioid injection sites.

“I’d wake up in the morning crying because my arms were dying,” Tracey McCann, 39, told the New York Times.

The city reported that 90% of lab-tested dope samples from 2021 contained xylazine, which can increase the risk of overdose when combined with other illicit substances.

But the lethal combination of substances is what gives xylazine its appeal — the high of the opioid, such as fentanyl, is extended with the help of “tranq.”

“It’s too late for Philly,” Shawn Westfahl, an outreach worker with Prevention Point Philadelphia, told the Times. “Philly’s supply is saturated. If other places around the country have a choice to avoid it, they need to hear our story.”

People with substance use disorders who get hooked on the zombifying drug believe the emerging substance killed “any kind of joy” that came with getting high.

“Tranq is basically zombifying people’s bodies,” Sam, 28, told Sky News. “Until nine months ago, I never had wounds. Now, there are holes in my legs and feet.”

The worrying “tranq” trend comes as the New York City Department of Health reported that 2,668 New Yorkers died of overdoses in 2021. Experts warn that xylazine could worsen the ongoing drug epidemic.

An outreach worker said that it is “too late” for the City of Philadelphia, where “tranq” is reportedly widely spread. A homeless person is pictured in the city’s Kensington neighborhood.

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Xylazine was found in 90% of drug samples tested in Philadelphia in 2021. Homeless people gather (above) in Kensington.

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Dr. Gary Tsai, the director of substance abuse prevention and control with the LA County Department of Public Health, believes the drug’s prevalence “would increase deaths from overdoses.”

“The main concern is we’re already amid the worst overdose crisis in history, nationally and locally,” Tsai told the Los Angeles Times.

According to a 2022 report, xylazine has been discovered in 36 states. In New York City alone, the drug was found in 25% of samples, per the Times.

Earlier this month, the San Francisco Department of Health announced that low levels of xylazine were found in the systems of four people who overdosed, suggesting that the substance can be hidden in drugs unbeknownst to the users.

“It’s possible that it’s more out there,” warned Tsai.

https://nypost.com/2023/02/21/skin-rotting-drug-tranq-infiltrates-big-cities-zombifying-bodies/