Madeleine McCann: Facial recognition gives verdict on Julia Wendell’s claim to be missing girl

The Polish woman who believes she is Madeleine McCann is awaiting the results of a DNA test to prove she is the missing British girl - but the result of a facial recognition analysis has poured doubt on her claims.

Swiss facial recognition firm Ava-X say their “face matching” software found that Julia Wendell is extremely unlikely to be the British girl, who vanished aged 3 from a Portuguese holiday apartment in 2007.

The company told Swiss news outlet Blick that their technology, developed to assist law enforcement in reuniting missing families, had not found a match.

“It’s practically impossible for the young Pole to be Maddie,” Ava-X boss Christian Fehrlin said.

“You can save yourself the DNA test,” Fehrlin told Blick, adding he was 90 per cent sure she was not Maddie based on the findings.

A comparison between a photo of Wendell as a child and as an adult did provide a match, however.

Julia Faustyna, who also goes by Julia Wendell, has claimed she may be Madeleine McCann.

Cancer fears

Wendell’s spokesperson Dr Fia Johansson revealed last week that the young Pole is awaiting test results back over fears she has leukaemia.

“Now the focus is on Julia as a person - not Madeleine,” she told The Sun.

“She has had a neglected childhood and suffered much abuse.

“Her health is very poor she has bad asthma and she suffers lots of pain in her bones.

“She is booked in for a CT and MRI scan because of the pain in her bones.

“Her blood work is also abnormal so my doctor here in the US is investigating whether she could have leukaemia so we are awaiting the results of that. And if she needs any treatment we will make sure she gets that.”

Wendell has submitted samples for three different forensic examinations that will outline her DNA sequence, along with a 23andMe-style genetic test to establish her ancestry.

If Wendell’s ancestry comes from the same region as Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, Johansson said she will immediately send the DNA sequence to Portuguese investigators for comparison.

Wendell – who has said she does not “remember most of my childhood” – previously said that Madeleine’s parents have agreed to a DNA test.

Julia Wendell believes she may be missing Madeleine McCann. Photo / Dr Fia Johansson / Handout

She claims that details of her childhood don’t add up, leading her to believe that she was abducted as a toddler, and that she has a spot in her right eye and a beauty mark on her cheek similar to Madeleine.

Earlier this month, however, Pawel Noga from the Provincial Police Headquarters in Wroclaw told Polish news outlet Gazeta that authorities have “ruled out” Wendell’s version of events to be “true”, according to an English translation of the outlet’s report.

In a 15-minute video posted to her Instagram, Wendell and Johansson refuted the officers’ statement.

Johansson said that “no police officers in Poland said that she [Julia] or she is not Madeleine McCann” and it was “all lies”.

She said the pair also intended to “force” Wendell’s mother to submit to a DNA test.

Internet users have also speculated that Wendell could be Swiss girl Livia Schepp, who disappeared in 2011 with her twin Alessia, aged 6.

“Julia is very open to the idea she may indeed be another missing child and they are hoping to carry out a DNA test with her family,” Johansson recently told The Sun.

“I’ve spoken to her about this and she is open to the fact she could be any missing child out there – not just Madeleine. Julia just wants to know the truth about who she is.”