Family of woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann break their silence

The distraught family of a woman who claims she is Madeleine McCann have broken their silence.

The distraught family of a woman who claims she is Madeleine McCann have broken their silence to deny that their daughter is the missing British girl.

Julia Wendell, 21, has taken the internet by storm in recent days with her wild claim that she is Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 and, if alive, would be 19.

Julia, from Poland, claims she looks similar to Madeleine - pointing out that she has a similar eye defect to the British girl - as well as her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.

She also says a lack of family photos of her from a young age suggest the truth may have been hidden from her.

But Julia’s family - who are understood to have refused to take a DNA test to confirm Julia’s identity - have refuted their daughter’s claims.

Julia Wendell claims she is Madeleine McCann

“For us as a family it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step niece,” the family said in a statement issued to a Polish missing persons website.

“We have memories, we have pictures. Julia also has these photos, because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges.”

They insisted they had tried to help Julia “get back on her feet” after she left home.

“Julia once wanted to be a singer, a model. She always wanted to be popular,” the family said.

“What’s happening now is she has got 1 million followers. The internet won’t forget, and it’s obvious that Julia isn’t Maddie. We are devastated at this current situation.”

Julia’s family say she is not Madeleine (left). Picture: Instagram/iammadeleinemccan

Julia’s representative, psychic medium and private investigator Dr Fia Johansson, earlier announced Julia’s plans to take her parents to court to force them to undergo a DNA test.

“When I’m talking to her ... she’s crying and saying, ‘I just need to understand the truth, all I want is for my mum and dad to do the DNA test with me’,” Dr Johansson told 7 News.

“But basically her father said, ‘no, we are not going to’.”

She added: “If they are not going to do it (of their own) free will, then we have to go to court.”

“We want to be very respectful to the McCann family, and respect the privacy of them and their kids while we don’t know exactly who Julia is,” Dr Johansson told The Sun.

“My feeling is that we need to force the mother or a member of Julia’s family to take the DNA test rather than disrupt the peace of Kate and Garry, which is not necessary.

“If a current family member will take a DNA test we could solve this. But they are refusing to.

“I have been personally talking to Julia’s mother and told her we will make her safe and secure in any way she needs but she is still refusing to take the test. She claims she has Julia’s birth certificate but our worry is that you can easily forge this.”

Kate and Gerry McCann. (Photo by Joe Giddens / POOL / AFP)

Despite some similarities between Julia and Madeleine, neither London’s Metropolitan Police or the Find Madeleine campaign have issued statements about Julia’s claim.

Previous updates on the case have been shared by the Met and the McCanns, potentially suggesting that Julia’s claim is not being treated as a serious possibility.

The last major update in the case came in June 2020, when police in Britain and Germany launched a new appeal for witnesses after revealing they had a new suspect, who was later revealed to be jailed paedophile Christian Brueckner.

German prosecutors last year charged Brueckner with three counts of aggravated rape and two counts of sexual abuse of children between 2000 and 2017, but none of the alleged offences are in relation to Madeleine.

The McCanns issued a statement at the time too, saying they welcomed the renewed appeal for information.

Madeleine McCann. (Photo by Handout / METROPOLITAN POLICE / AFP)

Two weeks later, they issued a further statement denying false media reports that there was evidence suggesting Madeleine had died.

“If there are important developments that can be made public, they will be issued through official police channels,” the family added at the time.

Madeleine went missing from her bed in a holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort town Praia da Luz on the evening of May 3, 2007, while her parents were having tapas at a restaurant metres away from their villa.

Kate and Gerry, now both 54, recently pledged to “never give up” their quest to find their missing daughter – adding they were entering their 16th year without her with “continued determination and positivity”. The couple also have 17-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

It’s estimated the British police probe to find Maddie has cost £13 million (approximately $23 million) to date.