Facial recognition expert believes Polish woman Julia Wendell is not Madeleine McCann

An expert in face recognition believes the young Polish woman who claims she is Madeleine McCann couldn't be the missing toddler and has drawn a new picture of what the young girl who disappeared over a decade ago would look like now.

It comes after Julia Wendell from Poland went viral for claiming she is the missing girl after creating an Instagram account named @iammadeleinemccan - which gained more than 1 million followers.

Wendell claims to have a freckle on her leg and a mark on her eye in the same place as Madeleine. She also claims Madeleine's parents agreed to a DNA test - but they are yet to announce this themselves.

Facial "super-recogniser" Simone Malik said there are some key facial feature giveaways that made it clear to her that Wendell is not Madeleine.

"I believe that this isn't Madeleine McCann. Obviously, DNA is the only thing that would prove it," Malik told the Daily Star.

"If she could get a DNA that would be fantastic because it would put to rest the distress she is going through."

Malik, an award-winning artist, said there are some similarities between the two but on closer inspection, the jawline gave it away. Malik told the Star pictures of Madeleine show a sharp, chiselled, angular jawline, similar to her mother Kate McCann.

However, Wendell has a long, prominent chin and rounded jawline.

Diagram from Simone Malik detailing what she believes Madeleine McCann looks like now.
Diagram from Simone Malik detailing what she believes Madeleine McCann looks like now. Photo credit: Instagram/Simone Malik

Malik also described how Madeleine's dimples were different to Wendell's and Madeleine's thin upper lip is different, while Wendell's lips are full.

Malik told the Daily Star that Philomena McCann, who is Jerry McCann's sister and Madeleine's aunty, has a mouth and lip area like Madeleine so she would imagine Madeleine's lips and nose profile to look like Philomena and Kate when she's older.

 "I would definitely say this is not the case, this is not Madeleine McCann that we're looking at," Malik said.

Madeleine McCann vanished from her bedroom at her family's vacation apartment in Praia da Luz in 2007. Her high-profile case has made waves across the world and, more than 15 years later, there is still uncertainty over the missing toddler's whereabouts.

German investigators believe McCann was killed by sex predator Christian Brueckner.

Brueckner, who denies any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, is currently serving a seven-year jail term for raping a 72-year-old woman. He has also been linked to other disappearances of children.