A Polish woman claiming to be missing Brit Madeleine McCann sparked a media storm with her revelations. Now, expert recognizer Simone Malik offers her verdict and shares a new image.
A super-recognizer has weighed in on claims made by a young Polish woman that she is Madeleine McCann – and drawn a new picture of what she thinks the missing British woman would look like now.
Julia Wendell has claimed to be Madeleine McCann via her Instagram account @iammadeleinemcann, prompting widespread speculation about the veracity of her claims.
In an interview with the Daily Star, facial “super-recognizer” Simone Malik described some of the key facial characteristics and giveaways that convinced her that Julia Wendell is not Madeleine McCann.
“I think this isn’t Madeleine McCann – obviously DNA is the only way to prove it,” she said.
“It would be wonderful if she could get a DNA because it would put an end to the distress she is experiencing.”
“On first impressions, when I looked at Julia Wendell I didn’t see any kind of family resemblance – at all.”
However, she concluded that these differences were not significant enough for her keen eye to conclude that they were the same individual.
“You can see what she’s pointing out when you carefully inspect the face and the way she’s laid out the face next to both parents,” she said.
“There are some similarities on closer examination, but her jawline really gave it away for me.”
Simone then went over some of the key characteristics that convinced her that this was a different person, such as her lips, jaw, and cheek dimples.
“In my previous sketch of Madeleine McCann, I really emphasised [her] jawline.”
“Even as a youngster, when you look at those photos, I think [she] would grow up to have a jawline that’s sharp and chiselled, an angular jawline very much like her mother Kate McCann,” she added.
Simone described how Julia and Madeleine’s mother Kate, as well as paternal aunty Philomena McCann, had no family resemblances.
“So, if you look at Julia, she has a very prominent chin, a long prominent chin, a rounded jawline that you can actually see in [her] earlier photos […] the jawline is very rounded and it goes up, it’s quite long.
“Her jawline has no lines whatsoever.”
Simone revealed that Maddie’s dimples differed from Julia’s.
“I also think Madeleine would have very distinct dimples – distinct.
“With Julia, they’re not there either. She has a slight dimpling, but most individuals can have that.
“Madeleine has much more pronounced dimples than Julia.
“For me, her jawline, the fact that Julia doesn’t have those dimples like Madeleine, and the fact that Julia’s mouth is also very distinct from Madeleine’s – Madeleine has a very thin upper lip.
“Once again, it’s like Kate McCann’s lip – the curve, the size, everything is exactly like Kate’s.”
Simone also pointed out important differences in Julia to other members of Madeleine’s family.
“Also, Philomena McCann, Jerry McCann’s sister and Madeleine’s aunty, has the same mouth and lip region as Madeleine.
“So Madeleine I would assume would be someone who has grown up to be a cross between her mother and slightly like Philomena – from the lip profile and the nose profile like Philomena and Kate.
“I would definitely say this is not the case, this is not Madeleine McCann that we’re looking at.
“Even as a child Julia has got a full upper lip and she’s got a full bottom lip – Madeleine McCann’s lip area is identical to Kate McCann’s.