New biometric analysis has emerged that rules out any possibility that Julia Wendell is Madeleine McCann, according to a private investigator who worked on the case of the missing child in 2007.
Julia, from Poland, has claimed that her local police have reportedly ignored her, so she went to Instagram to tell the world that she believes she is Madeleine McCann. She has since gone viral online with people divided on whether they believe her not.
She said she started wondering if she was Maddie "a few months ago" after hearing "something" from her grandma, the Irish Mirror reports. Julia said that the coloboma in her eye and the freckle on her leg which are similar to Madeline's also led her to believe that her true identity is Madeleine McCann. The McCanns have since approached her for a DNA test, it is claimed.
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Madeline was born in May 2003 which would make her 19 years old in 2023. Julia is 21, but believes that her age could be wrong. The latest twist in this story comes this week as Francisco Marco - the private detective who led the hunt for Maddie after her disappearance in 2007 in Portugal said he has carried out a biometric analysis and it completely crushes Ms Wendell's claims of being Maddie.
He claimed that it was strange that Julia took straight to social media instead of attempting to contact the McCann family directly. He told a Spanish network: "I have done a biometric search and there is no resemblance to Madeleine's features.
"I can think it's a fraud, but I can't say without evidence. This girl contacted the police and no one paid attention to her, and she later opened the Instagram account where she now has thousands of followers when she had very few before."
The most recent claims, made on TikTok and Instagram, have seen Ms Wendell comparing her photos to those of Maddie as "evidence" that they are the same person. She said on her Instagram story: "I talked with someone from Madeleine's family and I will have a possibility to talk with Madeleine's parents tomorrow and DNA test will be done soon."
In a post on Friday, Ms Wendell claimed to have spoken to someone who was alleged to be Madeleine's cousin, who told her there may be "a possibility" that she could talk to Kate and Gerry McCann to arrange a DNA test. Madeleine's family is yet to comment on these serious claims. On her instagram account that now has 1.1 million followers her bio reads: "Thank you for support. Kate and Gerry McCann agreed for DNA test.
"Police investigators from UK and Poland try to ignore me. I will tell my story in posts here. Help me."
She was answering questions she was asked by some followers in which Ms Wendell revealed she does not remember being taken away and has no recollection of most details of her childhood. She said: "I don't remember being taken away. I mean, I don't remember almost my entire childhood."
The latest comments come after a source close to the McCanns told the Daily Star Sunday that they are "willing to look at all leads". They said: "The family are taking no chances, they are willing to look at all leads. It is important they look at all of the factors, the girl does look similar. There’s no disputing that.
"If what she says is true, there is every chance it could be her. It all adds up."
However, German investigators believe Maddie - who disappeared from her room during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007 - was taken and killed by sex predator Christian Brueckner, even though he has repeatedly denied having anything to do with the girl's disappearance. Despite extensive searches, countless police investigations and everyone in the world knowing what she looks like the toddler's body has never been found.
It has been more than three years since they named Brueckner as their prime suspect but police are no closer to charging him as they do not have enough evidence to prove he is responsible for her disappearance or potential murder. The McCanns could not be contacted for comment.
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