Disappearance Of Madeleine McCann: Twitter Slams Student Who Joked She's Madeleine

A Manchester student became famous on the Internet after she sent out a message saying she thinks she was Madeleine McCann, the girl who went missing on May 3, 2007. Twitter users slammed the student for joking on the sensitive issue just for fame.

Harriet Brookes said she made the conclusion as she has a similar mark in her eye and on her leg as Madeleine. Posting screenshots from Wikipedia and pictures of the missing girl, Brookes said like Madeleine she too had a brown spot on her iris, reports said.

“Right guys. I don’t usually believe in conspiracy theories but honestly I think I’m Madeleine McCann," she said. She then posted a picture of her eye and leg calling them “Exhibit A” and “Exhibit B.”

Her friends ridiculed the claims, while some social media users also slammed her for joking about it. "I’m Madeleine McCann and I don’t know what to do with myself," the student said, even after being told to end the joke.

One social media user claimed: "Are you even Madeleine or are you just joking messing with peoples head."

Sue Garland on Facebook said: "So in summing up: 'Woman acts like a complete attention seeking idiot by announcing she is a missing child at least five years younger than she is.' No you are not Madeleine love, I hope that clears that up!"

Another commentator said, "She put it in a group chat for a laugh."

The Leeds student later spoke to the Tab saying that she sent out the post about being Madeleine just "for a joke.”

“I’m loving reading people’s reactions. I feel like so many people are taking it seriously,” she said.

Madeleine went missing after her parents left the 3-year-old and her 2-year-old twin siblings alone inside a vacation apartment rental in Portugal in 2007 while they went out to dinner. Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, maintained their innocence in relation to their daughter’s disappearance. They were named as official suspects four months after her disappearance, but Portuguese police dropped the case in July 2008 due to lack of evidence. Authorities in London have spent around $13 million investigating Madeleine’s disappearance since she went missing 10 years ago.

Earlier this month, reports surfaced about a person of interest in the case, said to be a "woman in purple" who may have information about the Madeleine.

Below are some tweets from users who were furious after Brookes made the joke.