Police in Poland have officially spoken out about the claims made by Julia Wendell - a young girl who believes she is Madeleine McCann.
The British youngster was taken from her family’s holiday apartment at the age of three in Praia da Luz in 2007, and investigators have been searching for her ever since.
Ms Wendell appeared on Instagram in recent weeks, presenting what she believed to be evidence that she was in fact Madeleine, and went as far as to say she does not believe her parents are biologically related to her.
Even after documenting body markings and the rare coloboma in her eye - which looked identical to the kidnapped three-year-old - Polish police have now ruled out her claims completely.
Officials shot down her case just days after her family published a statement accusing the young woman of allegedly suffering from psychiatric issues.
Pawel Noga of the Provincial Police Headquarters in the western city of Wroclaw said investigators have “ruled out” Wendell’s claim after meeting with her biological family.
Mr Noga spoke to the Polish news outlet, Gazeta, and revealed that Wendell's relatives had shown authorities a birth certificate and photos in a desperate bid to bring an end to the media storm.
Her family posted a statement on Facebook last week on a page dedicated to missing people and alleged that the 21-year-old “lies and manipulates” people and that she is not taking the medications prescribed by her psychiatrist.
“[Julia] once wanted to be a singer, a model,” they said in their statement.
“She always wanted to be popular. What’s happening now, she 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”.
The family also said that Ms Wendell left home and has been refusing therapy in recent weeks.
The 20-year-old based her first claims on "something" that her grandmother had mentioned about the McCanns in the past, and said she also found a family photo of a man who allegedly assaulted her as a child.
She claimed that he looked exactly like a composite sketch of the suspect wanted for kidnapping Madeleine which was posted on the official website.
"I have similar eyes, shape of face, ears, lips, I had the gap between the teeth," she detailed in one of her early posts on her Instagram account, @iammadeleinemcann.
"I need to know the truth. I need [a] DNA test and I need to talk with Madeleine's parents. Help me!"
Although there were mentions of a potential plan for a DNA test to be carried out with Wendell and the McCanns, they were abruptly thrown out after her claim began to unravel following widespread scrutiny online.
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