American Woman, 22, Claims She's the Real Madeleine McCann and Has 'DNA Proof' to Back Up Bizarre Theory
Eugenea Collins, 22, claimed she is Madeleine McCann.
Oct. 18 2026, Published 11:15 a.m. ET
An Arkansas woman claims she is Madeleine McCann, the 3-year-old girl who vanished in Portugal in 2007, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Eugenea Collins, 22, insists she has DNA proof to back up her bizarre theory, despite having no known genetic link to the McCann family.
Eugenea Collins Claims She Recognized Herself in Missing Girl Photos
Madeleine McCann vanished during a family vacation in Portugal in May 2007.
Collins said her suspicions began after watching Julia Wandelt, a Polish woman who previously claimed to be McCann, appear on Dr. Phil in March 2023.
"If it wasn't for me seeing her on the Dr. Phil show I would've never known. In a way her stupidity actually helped me find my family," Collins claimed.
"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," she added.
Collins was born on October 23, 2002, while Madeleine was born on May 12, 2003.
She cited an ancestry DNA test showing she is 68 percent English and Northwestern European as a possible clue.
Eugenea Collins Questions Her Own Identity
Eugenea Collinssays said she has struggled to obtain identification and a copy of her birth certificate.
Collins said she became suspicious about her background after struggling to obtain legal identification.
"I am unable to get any kind of identification," she said. "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," Collins continued.
She also pointed to an elementary school writing prompt and photographs of herself wearing a dress she believes resembles one McCann wore before disappearing.
Social Media Users Challenge Her Theory
Social media users have questioned Eugenea Collins' claims.
Online critics have questioned Collins' claims.
"Not to be rude here, but your eye doesn't have that defect in it like she does," one commenter wrote.
Another added, "The reason I’m not convinced is because I don’t see the same spot on the eye in any photo."
Collins also responded to criticism about her ears.
"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," she claimed.
'I Instantly Recognized that Man'
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Eugenea Collins alleged that Christian Brueckner could be her biological father.
Collins also alleged that Christian Brueckner, a German convicted s-- offender who has been investigated in connection with McCann's disappearance, could be her biological father.
"When I first saw the photos of Christian Brueckner, I instantly recognized that man," she claimed. "I never had any relationship with this man whatsoever, and I was always told he was a little off in the head."
