Madeleine McCann’s parents have spoken out after a woman from Poland claimed to be their missing daughter because of their shared age and appearance.
Julia Wandell, 21, posted online and tried to convince social media users she was the missing girl.
She went to great lengths in an attempt to verify her identity, including submitting samples for three different forensic examinations to outline her DNA sequence and a 23andMe-style genetic test to establish her ancestry — but it wasn’t a match.
Appearing on US talk show ‘Dr Phil’, Wandell pleaded her case to millions of viewers, denying her parents’ claims that she stole her own birth certificate and childhood photos to hide her true identity.
However, DNA test results which were released yesterday confirmed Wandell was from Poland.
In response to the DNA results, a spokesperson for Kate and Gerry McCann said: ‘There isn’t anything to report at this time.
‘If and when there is, it will come from The Metropolitan Police.’
Wendell was convinced she is the missing child who vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal in May 2007.
She took to Instagram and Tiktok saying she could be the missing Brit due to similarities in their age and appearance.
Medical records, accessed by private investigator Dr Fia Johansson, were brought to light ahead of the segment.
She said that Julie had reportedly suffered a skull fracture as a child which had erased part of her memory.
The brain injury – which happened when she was eight – had initially left her unable to speak or walk.
Dr Johansson has dispelled any possibility Julia could be missing Maddie.
She told RadarOnline.com: ‘She is absolutely 100 percent from Poland. She is a small percentage of Lithuanian and Russian but the test results show she is Polish.
‘We learned a few things, one being that Julia’s mum is in fact now believed to be her mum, so she is not Madeleine McCann.’
Dr Johansson later wrote on Instagram: ‘We finally know the reality.‘
‘Although it is impossible to tell for sure without the parents DNA results on either side, the test results speak to the origins of Julia’s root.’
She explained that the results showed the 21-year-old is from Poland, with some Lithuanian and Romanian heritage.
Dr Johansson added: ‘The DNA test results did not show any connection to British or even German roots.
‘This story is much more complicated than a simple girl from a small town in Poland making a claim to get attention.’
Relatives of Maddie previously insisted ‘it’s obvious Julia isn’t Maddie’ and blamed mental health issues and a lust for attention after gaining more than a million followers under the handle @iammadeleinemccann.
Detectives have similarly ‘ruled out’ her account, with Pawel Noga, a spokesman for the police in Wroclaw telling Gazeta the investigation ‘contradicts the version presented by this woman’.
