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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
World
David Clark

'I am Madeleine McCann' claim given 90% verdict by facial recognition software

Facial recognition software has given its verdict on the woman claiming to be missing Madeleine McCann.

The Swiss company who operate the test, has run photographs of both girls in its face matching programme.

The technology has been developed to help police identify criminals and reunite missing people with loved ones delivered it verdict, the Daily Star reports.

READ MORE: Police ‘very concerned’ for missing schoolgirl last seen meeting man in Buchanan Bus Station

And it claims that Julia Wendell and Maddie are not the same person.

The Polish woman is awaiting the results of three DNA samples and a genetic test after claiming to be the missing British girl, who was abducted as toddler while on holiday with her family in Portugal.

Her @IamMadeleineMcCann Instagram account has since amassed over one million followers with people captivated by her supposed evidence.

Julia claims she has the same rare eye condition as missing Madeleine - a coloboma in her right eye. The condition occurs when part of the eye tissue is missing, and leads to a misshapen pupil.

Julia also pointed to freckles she had on her leg and cheek that appeared to be in the same place as the missing toddler.

Dr Fia Johansson, a private investigator working on the case, travelled to Poland to dig deeper into Julia's claims and found there were no hospital records in Wroclaw - the city she supposedly grew up in - relating to the first five years of her life.

This only reaffirmed Julia's suspicion that her age isn't accurate, given that Madeleine would be 19 rather than 21.

Dr Johansson said she is absolutely convinced Julia was trafficked into Poland as a child, regardless of whether or not she's Madeleine.

However, a company in Switzerland has used facial recognition software to dispute the claim.

Ava-X studied photos of both girls in detail, reports blick.ch.

"It's practically impossible for the young Pole to be Maddie," Ava-X boss Christian Fehrlin told Blick.

A comparison of a childhood image of the Pole with one of her as an adult provided a match, but the result was negative when a photo of Madeleine was used.

Asked about the chances of Julia being Maddie, Fehrlin said he was 90 per cent sure that the two were different people.

Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry McCann have not commented on Julia's claims.

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