A Polish woman claiming to be missing child Madeleine McCann will complete a DNA test to see if she really is the girl who has been missing for 16 years. Video / NewsNation
The parents of missing British girl Madeleine McCann have issued a statement after a DNA test proved that Polish woman Julia Wendell could not be their long-lost child.
Julia Wendell has become a sensation online after going public with her claims, despite her family expressing their dismay at the media circus around their daughter and calling for her to seek mental health treatment.
Wendell has said she first suspected she was the missing British girl last year, after years of questioning her family history.
She did not send DNA to the British police, instead choosing a DNA test to probe her ancestry.
She has said she would wait for the results before going further with her claims.
When the results arrived they did not show ancestry that matches with tragic Maddie.
“She is absolutely 100 per cent from Poland,” Wendell’s advocate Dr Fia Johansson told Radar Online.
Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of the missing British girl Madeleine McCann, hold up a picture of Madeleine during a press conference in Berlin on June 6, 2007. Photo / Getty Images
Now a spokesman for Madeleine’s parents 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.”
Johansson has said that she still believes the man who allegedly sexually abusedWendell may be linked to the McCann case – and said that exposing him may help the McCann investigation.
“Julia had all the birthmarks as Madeleine McCann which I believe is God and the universe’s way of wanting us to get close to the man who sexually abused her, expose him, and his possible ties to the McCann case,” Johansson said.
“At least Julia got the investigators to move on the McCann case. She made things happen,” she added.
Julia Wendell, who is claiming to be Madeleine McCann, appears on Dr Phil. Photo / Supplied
‘Rehearsal, not recollection’
During a recent appearance on the Dr Phil television show, Wendell told Dr Phil she only had “one early memory”.
“Beach and water, like sea or ocean, and there were turtles and children … and I remembered light-coloured buildings, like white or very light colours, sunlight on these buildings,” she said.
The memories, which paint a picture of the region of Portugal where McCann went missing, was given as strong proof of the integrity of Wendell’s story by Johannsson.
She said the fact that Wendell recounted the story the same way every time made her believe it was true.
“I see that very differently actually when I’m interrogating someone and they give me the exact story the same way every time,” Dr Phil responded.
“That suggests rehearsal, not recollection.”
Wendell’s family have previously expressed their dismay at the media circus around their daughter and called for her to seek mental health treatment.
“For us as a family it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step-niece,” her parents said in a statement earlier this year.
“Threats to our address from Julia, her lies and manipulations, activity on the internet. The interest won’t forget, and it’s obvious that Julia isn’t Maddie. We are devastated at this current situation.”
