A Polish woman who claimed she was Madeleine McCann is not the missing British girl, DNA results have shown.
Julia Wendell, 21, became an internet sensation when she claimed she was Madeleine – despite her own parents branding her claims as ‘lies and manipulation’.
She even appeared on the US talk show Dr Phil, where she said she started suspecting she was Madeleine last June, and insisted she was the missing girl, but did not provide any proof.
But just days after her appearance on TV, she received DNA test results that ruled she was not the missing girl.
Instead, the DNA results showed she was indeed from Poland – as her parents had insisted – with some Lithuanian and Romanian heritage, reports Radar Online.
Julia Wendell, 21, has even appeared on the US show Dr Phil where she said she started suspecting she was the missing British girl in June last year, without providing any proof to back up her claims
Madeleine, then 3, (pictured) vanished during a family holiday to Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007, which would now make her around 19, two years younger than Wendell is – yet another reason to dismiss her unsupported claims. DNA results have now confirmed Wendell is not Madeleine
‘She is absolutely 100 per cent from Poland,’ said Dr Fia Johansson, a private investigator and psychic medium who has been assisting Wendell.
‘She is a small percentage of Lithuanian and Russian but the test results show she is Polish,’ Dr Johansson, who has relocated Wendell from Poland to the United States after she received death threats, added.
Wendell’s own parents from Poland said she has fabricated the claims and that ‘it’s obvious she isn’t’ Madeleine.
Madeleine, from Rothley in Leicestershire, vanished during a family holiday at Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 aged then three years old.
This would make her around 19 now, two years younger than Wendell – a fact that left many sceptical.
Wendell also said she cannot remember large parts of her childhood and is not sure of her age as she has not seen her birth certificate – a claim strongly refuted by her Polish parents.
She said: ‘I don’t remember most of my childhood but my earliest memory is very strong and it’s about holidays in a hot place where there is a beach and white or very light coloured buildings with apartments. I don’t see my family in this memory.’
Wendell (pictured) claims she started suspecting she was the missing British girl in June last year, without providing any evidence to support her claims. Her claims have now been debunked after DNA test results proved she is not Madeleine McCann
Dr Phil showed Wendell side-by-side pictures of her and Madeleine, which the Polish woman had used to promote her now debunked theory on social media.
Wendell insisted she has many similarities with missing Madeleine, and that the rare eye defect she claimed to share with Madeleine had ‘faded’ after Dr Phil questioned her about it.
She said she also had a similar laugh and dimple to the missing girl.
Wendell claimed that her mother would always change the subject when Wendell brought up her birth and ‘didn’t want to show me any proof’.
Dr Phil said to her: ‘She [Wendell’s mother] says she went to the hospital and gave birth to you.’
The Polish woman replied: ‘She said, yes. When I asked her for DNA before this whole situation, when I asked her for some pictures from her pregnancy, some childhood pictures… she refused.’
Wendell had claimed she was never shown photos of herself in her early years or a birth certificate, her parents had quickly refuted this – and provided evidence.
They said in a statement: ‘For us as a family it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step niece. We have memories, we have pictures.
Wendell (right) has been assisted by Dr Fia Johansson (left), a private investigator and psychic medium, in submitting DNA samples
‘Julia also has these photos, because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges.
‘We always tried to understand all situations that happened with Julia. Threats to our address from Julia, her lies and manipulations, activity on the internet… we’ve seen it all and we’ve tried to prevent it, explain it, we’ve asked her to stop.’
They added: ‘We always tried to help her get back on her feet. Julia has been of age for several years. She moved out of the house.
‘She refuses treatment, does not take medication regularly. She also did not take advantage of the possibility of treatment at a very good centre in Poland, which agreed to accept her.’
They explained that they had offered to provide Wendell with therapists, medicine and support over the years, adding: ‘Julia once wanted to be a singer, a model. She always wanted to be popular. What’s happening now is she [has] 1 million followers.
‘The internet won’t forget, and it’s obvious that Julia isn’t Maddie. We are devastated at this current situation.’