'That's my girl!' Swedish father reveals the mystery English-speaking homeless girl on streets of Rome is his 21-year-old daughter who suffers from Asperger's and is studying Italian.
The English-speaking homeless woman found on the streets of Rome has been revealed to be a 21-year-old Swede with Asperger's.
Baffled Italian authorities were struggling to identify the young woman, who only responds in English, after she was found sleeping in a piazza in central Rome.
Campaigners said she looked like a number of missing girls and even Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who vanished on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007.
But MailOnline can reveal she is 21-year-old Embla Jauhojärvi, from Stockholm in Sweden. Her father Tahvo has contacted police and is waiting for Embla to be relocated before he flies to Italy for a reunion.
He said his daughter suffered from Asperger's and that she had left to study Italian six months ago.
But, despite guessing that she had been spending time in Rome, has not heard from her since.
He has tried to engage Swedish police in his bid to track Embla down but was told they would not take the matter further because she is an adult.
Mr Jauhojärvi, who lives just outside Stockholm, said: 'She has been missing for six months since May. I knew she was going to Italy and to study Italian as a language.'
'I've tried for six months to get help from police in Sweden, but they have been no help.
'I had hopes that she was going to do what she went there to do. I want her home.'
Pictures taken before she went missing show her wearing glasses and a black waterproof jacket.
But when she was found in Rome, she had few belongings and her glasses were gone.
The girl was found with no passport or ID. She was described as 'polite' - but refuses to accept offers of money.
Detectives had earlier dismissed claims that she was in fact missing Madeleine McCann.
But police Rome police today told MailOnline she told them last week that she was 20 years old and from Britain.
The English-speaking homeless woman found on the streets of Rome has been revealed to be a 21-year-old Swede with Asperger's.
Baffled Italian authorities were struggling to identify the young woman, who only responds in English, after she was found sleeping in a piazza in central Rome.
Campaigners said she looked like a number of missing girls and even Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who vanished on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007.
But MailOnline can reveal she is 21-year-old Embla Jauhojärvi, from Stockholm in Sweden. Her father Tahvo has contacted police and is waiting for Embla to be relocated before he flies to Italy for a reunion.
He said his daughter suffered from Asperger's and that she had left to study Italian six months ago.
But, despite guessing that she had been spending time in Rome, has not heard from her since.
He has tried to engage Swedish police in his bid to track Embla down but was told they would not take the matter further because she is an adult.
Mr Jauhojärvi, who lives just outside Stockholm, said: 'She has been missing for six months since May. I knew she was going to Italy and to study Italian as a language.'
'I've tried for six months to get help from police in Sweden, but they have been no help.
'I had hopes that she was going to do what she went there to do. I want her home.'
Pictures taken before she went missing show her wearing glasses and a black waterproof jacket.
But when she was found in Rome, she had few belongings and her glasses were gone.
The girl was found with no passport or ID. She was described as 'polite' - but refuses to accept offers of money.
Detectives had earlier dismissed claims that she was in fact missing Madeleine McCann.
But police Rome police today told MailOnline she told them last week that she was 20 years old and from Britain.
- Category
- Portugal Girls
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