A woman who believed she could be聽has apologised to the missing British girl鈥檚 parents in a 17-page statement, after DNA tests proved she wasn鈥檛 their daughter.
Polish woman聽, 21, claimed in February she had reason to think she was Maddie, who vanished from her family鈥檚 Praia de Luz holiday apartment in May 2007 at the age of 3 and has not been seen since.
Wendell, who also sometimes uses the surname Faustyna, claimed she had similar facial features, suffered an abusive childhood and had started to question her parentage.
She shared her theories on Instagram under the username @IamMadeleineMcCann.
Last week, however, a DNA test disproved her claim. One 23andMe-style test that examined Wendell鈥檚 heritage found she was from Poland with some Lithuanian and Romanian heritage 鈥 rather than the British heritage of the McCanns.
In her latest statement, shared to Facebook, Wendell said it was never her 鈥渋ntention to bring sadness or any other negative emotion to anyone, especially to McCann family鈥 (parents Kate and Gerry). She also claimed she never actually said she was McCann.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 remember most of my memories, but I can remember some things and I never said that I am Madeleine McCann,鈥 Wendell wrote.
Kate and Gerry McCann said through a spokesperson, "There isn鈥檛 anything to report at this time." Photo / Getty Images
鈥淚 used this sentence to create a nickname for my old Instagram account; it was my mistake and I know it and I apologise for that because I should use words 鈥楢m I Madeleine McCann鈥, not 鈥業 am鈥.
聽鈥淪o it was my fault and it wasn鈥檛 my intention to bring sadness or another negative emotion to anyone, especially to McCann family. My main purpose was always to find out who I am and what exactly happened in my very hurtful past.鈥
Despite her apology and concrete evidence proving she is not the missing girl, Wendell added: 鈥淚 still believe that it鈥檚 a possibility that I could be Madeleine.鈥
Fia Johansson 鈥 who until recently had served as a spokesperson for Wendell but has since reportedly cut ties 鈥 said she brought the young girl back down to Earth after breaking to her the results of the DNA test.
鈥淎t first she didn鈥檛 want to believe the DNA results, she was saying, 鈥榃hat if someone changed the results?鈥 but I told her, 鈥楽top this now鈥,鈥 Dr Johansson told the聽Sun.
Dr Fia Johansson told Julia Wendell to 鈥榮top this fixation鈥. Photo / Supplied
鈥淚 can understand as a psychologist why she didn鈥檛 want to believe her mother is her real mother.
鈥淏ut I told her she must stop this fixation, now, that she is Madeleine McCann, and accept the result of the DNA test and start to move on with her life.鈥
A spokesperson for Madeleine鈥檚 parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, also responded to the results, saying: 鈥淭here isn鈥檛 anything to report at this time. If and when there is, it will come from the Metropolitan Police.鈥
Wendell鈥檚 own family has also rejected 鈥 and begged her to stop perpetuating 鈥 her claims about being Madeleine McCann.
Despite her apology and concrete evidence proving she is not Madeleine McCann (above), Julia Wendell said she "still believes that it鈥檚 a possibility that I could be Madeleine".
鈥淔or us as a family it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and stepniece. We have memories, we have pictures,鈥 they said in an earlier statement.
鈥淛ulia also has these photos, because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges.
鈥淲e always tried to understand all situations that happened with Julia. Threats to our address from Julia, her lies and manipulation, activity on the internet 鈥 we鈥檝e seen it all and we鈥檝e tried to prevent it, explain it, we鈥檝e asked her to stop.
鈥淲e 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 鈥 The internet won鈥檛 forget [her behaviour], and it鈥檚 obvious that Julia isn鈥檛 Maddie. We are devastated at this situation.鈥
- Natalie Brown, news.com.au
Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you
Get the iHeart App
Get more of the radio, music and podcasts you love with the FREE iHeartRadio app. Scan the QR code to download now.
Download from the app stores
Stream unlimited music, thousands of radio stations and podcasts all in one app. iHeartRadio is easy to use and all FREE