DNA of "Maria" matches Bulgarian Roma's couple

A girl known as Maria who was discovered last week near Farsala in central Greece during a police raid on a Roma settlement, is seen in this undated photo released by "The Smile of the Child." Bulgarian authorities said Friday, Oct. 25, 2013 that DNA tests have confirmed that a 35-year-old Roma woman who lives in Nikolaevo, Bulgaria with her nine other children, is the mother of the mystery girl.

maria, greece, gypsy, camp — AP Photo/Greek Police

In this undated photo released by Greek Police shows the four-year-old girl who is known as Maria, in an unknown location. On Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, Greek authorities requested assistance in identifying the girl. She was found living in a Roma camp with a couple who were later arrested and charged with abducting her from her birth parents. The couple claimed the child was given to them, and on October 25, 2013, DNA tests showed Maria was the biological child of a Roma couple living in Bulgaria. The birth mother of the girl reportedly said she gave her daughter away because she was too poor to take care of her.

Mother Sasha Ruseva holds two-year-old Penka, one of her ten children, in the town of Nikolaevo, Bulgaria, Thursday Oct. 24, 2013. DNA tests have confirmed that a Ruseva, 35, and her husband, Atanas, matched that of Maria, a child found living in a Roma camp in Greece, Interior Ministry official Svetlozar Lazarov said Friday. Ruseva says she gave birth to a baby girl four years ago in Greece while working as an olive picker but gave the child away because she was too poor to care for her. She since has had two more children after Maria. Maria has been in a charity's care since authorities raided a Roma settlement in Greece last week and found she was not related to the Greek Roma couple she was living with.

DNA tests proved Maria is not related to the couple who claimed to be her parents.

Minka Ruseva, daughter of Sasha Ruseva, left, dances along with other children in a Roma neighborhood of Nikolaevo, Bulgaria, Friday, Oct. 25, 2013.

Minka Ruseva, daughter of Sasha Ruseva, left, laughs in a Roma neighborhood of Nikolaevo, Bulgaria, Friday, Oct. 25, 2013.

A Bulgarian Roma child stands next to a pig in a Roma neighborhood of Nikolaevo, Bulgaria, Friday, Oct. 25, 2013.

Bulgarian Roma children play with bicycles in a Roma neighborhood of Nikolaevo, Bulgaria, Friday, Oct. 25, 2013.

A Bulgarian Roma child smiles standing in the doorway of a house in a Roma neighborhood of Nikolaevo, Bulgaria, Friday, Oct. 25, 2013.

A Bulgarian Roma girl smiles holding a toddler on her back in a Roma neighborhood of Nikolaevo, Bulgaria, Friday, Oct. 25, 2013.

A Bulgarian Roma woman holds a broom while standing in a Roma neighborhood of Nikolaevo, Bulgaria, Friday, Oct. 25, 2013.

Minka Ruseva, daughter of Sasha Ruseva, sits next to a boy in front of the Rusev family house in a Roma neighborhood of Nikolaevo, Bulgaria, Friday, Oct. 25, 2013.