Inside the world of the Madeleine McCann faker Julia Wendell: Polish woman who claimed to be lost girl went to 17th anniversary vigil despite tests proving she is NOT Maddie after she previously said she was also two other missing girls

A memorial service was held to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the disappearance of young Madeleine McCann last night - but why was a Polish woman, clutching a note for the youngster's parents, among those attending?

Julia Wendell, 22, became infamous last year after she claimed on social media she was in fact the missing girl, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3 2007 as her parents Kate and Gerry went out for dinner.

Posting on Instagram as @iammadeleinemccann, Ms Wendell claimed she could not remember her childhood and was convinced she looked physically similar to Madeleine. Her claims horrified millions and distressed her Polish family.

A DNA test carried out with the help of celebrity psychic Dr Fia Johansson last year concluded Ms Wendell was '100 per cent Polish' - but the 'faker' nevertheless turned up at the Leicestershire memorial service hoping to ask the McCanns to take a test.

It is the latest development in what appears to be the third case of Ms Wendell claiming to be a missing person, with friends of the Polish girl's family saying that the 22-year-old - who is older than Madeleine would be now - is 'disturbed'.

Julia Wendell turned up at a memorial service for Madeleine McCann on Friday as the 17th anniversary of the toddler's disappearance came to pass

She shared images of herself on Instagram under the handle @iammadeleinemccann (left), claiming to bear a resemblance to Madeleine (right)

Ms Wendell then appeared on Dr Phil in March 2023 and maintained her claims that she was the missing girl - before a DNA test blew that theory out of the water

Ms Wendell has consistently begged Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured during a 2017 interview) to take a DNA test too

The imposter grew up wanting to be a singer or a dancer and was privately educated by her mother Dorota Wandelt-Cholewinski, who runs clothes shops in Wroclaw, and finance worker stepfather Piotr Cholewinski.

But her name became known across the world after she created an Instagram account last February claiming to bear a resemblance to missing Madeleine.

Ms Wendell's claims centred on what she claimed were physical similarities between herself and the missing girl, including a coloboma - a condition that creates a black spot on the eye and was a distinguishing feature on Madeleine's face.

But her claims were denounced by many of the million-plus people who followed the Instagram account - long since deleted - and rejected by Ms Wendell's own family, who say she needs support with mental health issues. 

Madeleine disappeared at the age of three from the Algarve holiday apartment she was staying in 17 years ago as parents Kate and Gerry dined out, sparking one of the world's most infamous missing persons cases.

But Ms Wendell, who also used the surnames Faustyna and Wendelt, claimed in one of her posts to have a memory of holidaying in 'a hot place'.

She wrote: 'I don't remember most of my childhood but my earliest memory is very strong and it's about holidays in a hot place where there is a beach and white or very light coloured buildings with apartments. I don't see my family in this memory.' 

And as she shared what she claimed was evidence she was Madeleine, she begged Kate and Gerry for a DNA test to prove she was actually the missing girl. The couple have never commented directly on the baseless claims.

Julia Wendell was then contacted by Dr Fia Johansson who offered to help her conduct a DNA test to identify her roots.

And days after she appeared on US TV in a Dr Phil interview, where she continued to claim without merit that she was Madeleine, the results came back and revealed she was essentially 100 per cent Polish, with negligible Russian and Lithuanian traces. 

'At first she didn't want to believe the DNA results, she was saying 'What if someone changed the results?' but I told her, 'Stop this now',' Dr Johansson said after the results were published.

'I can understand as a psychologist why she didn't want to believe her mother is her real mother.

'But 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.'

But it is not the first time Wendell has even claimed to be someone else.

MailOnline previously revealed she has twice contacted Zaginieni przed Laty (Missing Years Ago), a missing persons charity in Poland, purporting to be a missing German schoolgirl and a missing American toddler.

She initially claimed to be Inga Gehricke, five, who went missing from Stendal in Germany in 2015, despite an eight year age gap. Ms Wendell then contacted the charity later to say she was missing US girl Acacia Bishop.

Julia (right) was assisted by Dr Fia Johansson (left), a private investigator and psychic medium, in submitting DNA samples that proved she was all-but-entirely Polish

The main square in Wroclaw, the home of Julia Wendell, a 21-year-old Polish woman who claimed to be missing child Madeleine McCann 

MailOnline has also discovered Julia contacted a Polish charity to say she was a missing German schoolgirl Inga Gehricke, five, who disappeared from Stendal in Germany in 2015

Julia then contacted the charity again to say she was Acacia Bishop (pictured), who went missing as a 19-month-old in 2003 in Utah

Madeleine went missing while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz at the Ocean Club apartments (pictured)

Ms Wendell later told the BBC's disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring (pictured) that she regretted the online furore - but now maintains she wants the McCanns to take a test

Both claims were dismissed out of hand by Zaginieni przed Laty, who said of the 22-year-old: 'We have been helping Julia's family as best we can because it's quite clear she is not very well and is constantly claiming to be people she isn't.

'Her family just want the best for her and for this to be resolved with her returning to therapy. For Julia's family she is a much loved daughter, sister, niece, cousin and granddaughter. They don't understand why she is claiming to be someone else.'

Family friends have described Ms Wendell as a 'very disturbed young woman' whose behaviour has left her mother Dorota 'beside herself' and failing to understand why her daughter continues to deny her true identity.

The family has also directed anger towards psychic Dr Johansson, who they accuse of exploiting their daughter. 

A friend of Dorota said last year: 'The family couldn't believe what she was saying as they had given her so much love and support when she was younger - even though she had pushed them away and rejected them.

'Her mother was telling everyone her daughter had mental health issues and she asked her to stop lying and spreading these claims but Julia just said she didn't believe Dorota was her mother.

'Julia says she doesn't have a birth certificate or photos but she took them with her from the family home in Wroclaw - she has all the documents that prove who she is and she most certainly is not Madeleine McCann.

'She has had mental health issues for many years and there have been several cases of self-harm, she needs serious help.

'It's clear to the family that Julia is motivated by all this attention she is getting and in my opinion been Dr Johansson has been unprofessional and exploited the illness of a young woman.' 

Ms Wendell appeared to be intent on putting her days of pretending to be Madeleine McCann behind her after she appeared on a BBC Sounds podcast to say her behaviour had been triggered by experiences of childhood abuse.

She told the broadcaster's disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring that she 'regretted' the entire affair and that she 'never meant to hurt anyone - including (the) McCanns'.

But she remains convinced she has gaps in her childhood memories that she is trying to fill in - and after appearing at the memorial last night she has made clear she will not give up her pursuit of the McCanns for another DNA test.

She said after the service: 'I am Madeleine McCann. I have never stopped believing it and I have come here because I want to ask Kate and Gerry to do a DNA test.

'They haven't done one to prove I am not their daughter. I am not crazy. I am not a liar.'

Kate and Gerry did not attend the service at the baptist church in Rothley, Leicestershire - but did share a statement as the 17th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance approached via their official Facebook.

The McCanns continue to hold out hope that Madeleine (above, pictured on the day she disappeared) will be found

But German police are convinced convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner (above, in court in February as he stands trial for sex offences) abducted and killed the toddler

Scotland Yard detectives clearing an area in Praia da Luz in 2014. British police have just been given another £200,000 to continue their 13-year probe into Madeleine's disappearance

It read: 'It's 17 years since Madeleine was taken from us. It's hard to even say that number without shaking our heads in disbelief. 

'Whilst we are fortunate in many ways and able to live a relatively normal and enjoyable life now, the "living in limbo" is still very unsettling. And the absence still aches.'

British police have just been granted new funding of nearly £200,000 by the Home Office to keep their investigation, codenamed Operation Grange, going.

Scotland Yard's 13-year inquiry, which officers are still treating as a missing person case, has cost the taxpayer a staggering £13.2 million to date.

A Home Office spokesperson has confirmed: 'Ministers have approved a request to provide up to £192,000 for Operation Grange in 2024-25 in line with our Special Grant processes.

'The total figure is just under £13.2 million since 2011.'

But German police are convinced Maddie is dead and have been intent on charging prime suspect Christian Brueckner with her kidnap and 'no body' murder.

The convicted paedophile is currently on trial in his native Germany for five unrelated rapes and sex offences, three involving minors.

Brueckner, 47, is also serving a sentence for the rape of an elderly American tourist in the same resort of Praia da Luz Maddie was snatched from.