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4th April 2023
09:12am BST
A private investigator working for a woman who believed she could be Madeleine McCann still believes her case is linked to the missing Brit despite DNA results finally coming back.
Julia Wendell, who is also known by the names Julia Faustyna and Julia Wandelt, went viral in February after sharing what she claimed as “evidence” on Instagram that she is the girl who went missing in Praia da Luz in 2007. The evidence included some freckles on her leg, an eye defect, and missing pages from her medical records.
The 21-year-old, who would be two years older than Maddie who would turn 19 this month, has said she does not remember large chunks of her childhood, or the moment she was supposedly taken. She has also claimed she was abused by a German paedophile who looks like someone who was once a suspect in Maddie’s disappearance. Polish police have disputed Julia’s evidence and her parents have claimed she is unwell.
Dr Fia Johansson, who has been advocating for Julia and now has power of attorney, told RadarOnline that despite the DNA results ruling out that Julia is Madeleine, she still believes there may be a link between the cases.
She told the publication she believes the man who allegedly sexually abused Julia may be linked to Madeleine’s case – and investigators in Portugal have expressed an interest in looking into his background, RadarOnline suggested.
“Julia had all the birthmarks as Madeleine McCann which I believe is God and the universe’s way of wanting us to get close to the man who sexually abused her, expose him, and his possible ties to the McCann case,” Fia said.
Madeline was just four years old when she disappeared from her holiday apartment. No trace of her has ever been found and no one has been arrested. The prime suspect in the disappearance, convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, has been charged in Germany with unrelated sexual offences. He is accused of five offences between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal. German prosecutors say the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance is ongoing separately.
Julia's DNA tests revealed she is from Poland, but also has some Lithuanian and Romanian heritage.
“She is absolutely 100 percent from Poland,” Fia told RadarOnline.
“She is a small percentage of Lithuanian and Russian but the test results show she is Polish,” she added.
Fia added that Julia’s case, “at least” got investigators to “move on the McCann case – she made things happen”.
The news comes as Fia on Monday announced she had been granted power of attorney so she can make decisions for her and after the pair appeared on Dr Phil.
The chat show talked through Julia's evidence and she reiterated the fact she thought she is Madeleine.
Julia’s appearance on the show came as is was revealed that police investigating Madeleine’s disappearance will be given another £300,000 to continue their inquires.
Reports have suggested Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, are reportedly open to a DNA test, but they have never spoken about Julia’s case publicly.
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