There have been a lot of new developments in the Madeleine McCann case as of late. The three-year-old British girl went missing over ten years ago while vacationing with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, in Portugal.
Over the last few years, many theories about Madeleine's disappearance have come to light, including one that suggested she was killed by her parents by "accident due to neglect and possible medication."
Her nanny dispelled that theory earlier this year by insisting that "no way they [Kate and Gerry] did it," and gave a few different reasons why that would not have been possible.
Other versions of the events reveal that there was a woman standing outside of the Ocean Club apartment where Madeleine was supposedly abducted from just 90 minutes before she was reported missing.
Police followed this lead and recently identified the "woman in purple" as Luisa, a former waitress at a restaurant near the Portuguese resort where the McCanns stayed. However, they haven't been able to bring her in for interrogation.
Now, just a few weeks after the information about the mysterious woman was made public knowledge, there's another person stepping forward with some information about the case. In fact, she is claiming to be Madeleine, and has some "evidence" to prove she's telling the truth.
Harriet Brookes, a student from Manchester, U.K., has gone viral for claiming that she is Madeleine McCann.
Brookes sent a group text message to her friends in which she makes the bizarre confession, and shares a couple of photographic evidence to back up her claim.
"I don't usually believe in conspiracy theories but honestly I think I'm Madeleine McCann," she wrote in the chat.
One of her friends responded saying, " I f***ing guve up," but that didn't stop Brookes from sharing more photos. She posted a picture of her eye and leg, along with the captions that read "Exhibit A" and "Exhibit B" to draw attention to the brown spots on her eye and leg, features that Madeleine also has.
Brookes added, "I'm Madeleine McCann and I don't know what to do with myself."
One of her friends later posted their conversation on Twitter, and it has already been liked by over 100,000 people.
However, upon further probing, there is a strong reason to suspect that Brookes' claim is false. Not only is the 17-year-old too old to be Madeleine, who would be around 14 years today, she also told The Tab that she "just sent it for a joke."
"I'm loving reading people's reactions. I feel like so many people are taking it seriously," she said.
I think it goes without saying that Brookes' idea of a joke is nowhere near funny, considering how serious Madeleine's case is. The Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan Police have recently been given a combined total of about $16 million to extend their investigation and locate Luisa. So far, they haven't had much luck.
What do you think of Brookes' claims?