A Polish woman claiming to be missing child Madeleine McCann will complete a DNA test to see if she really is the girl who has been missing for 16 years. Video / NewsNation
The woman who claims to be missing English girl Madeleine McCann, despite DNA tests coming back negative, has sensationally had her mobile phone seized by US police.
Seargent Mike Woodroof of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department confirmed they had seized a phone that has ties with Polish woman Julia Wendell, who is also known as Julia Faustyna.
The Sun reported the phone was handed over to police after explicit images of children were allegedly found on the device.
Dr Fia Johansson, a private investigator and psychic who brought Wendell to the US, confirmed she handed over the phone to police.
“Police are taking this very seriously and have assured me that a full investigation will be done,” Johansson told the publication.
Wendell has since denied the claims, explaining she has already spoken to Polish police about the contents of the phone.
The 21-year-old told the Sun she “didn’t have child pornography” on the phone, strongly stating she is “not a paedophile” but is instead “a victim of a paedophile”.
Dr Johansson told Ms Wendell to ‘stop this fixation’. Photo / Supplied
It is believed the phone was seized after Wendell was planning to undergo a second DNA test following the negative results of the first test which proved she was not missing toddler Madeleine McCann.
Wendell made headlines after claiming to be Madeleine and appearing on Dr Phil to discuss her childhood and the wild McCann theory.
She has since issued a 17-page apology to McCann’s parents Kate and Gerry following the negative DNA result.
Wendell explained it was never her “intention to bring sadness or any other negative emotion to anyone, especially to McCann family” (parents Kate and Gerry). She also claimed she never actually said she was McCann.
“I don’t remember most of my memories, but I can remember some things and I never said that I am Madeleine McCann,” Wendell wrote.
“I used this sentence to create a nickname for my old Instagram account; it was my mistake and I know it and I apologise for that because I should use words ‘Am I Madeleine McCann’, not ‘I am’.
Julia Wendell, who is claiming to be Madeleine McCann, appears on Dr Phil. Photo / Supplied
“So it was my fault and it wasn’t my intention to bring sadness or another negative emotion to anyone, especially to McCann family. My main purpose was always to find out who I am and what exactly happened in my very hurtful past.”
Despite her apology and concrete evidence proving she is not the missing girl, Wendell added: “I still believe that it’s a possibility that I could be Madeleine.”
Fia Johansson – who until recently had served as a spokesperson for Wendell but has since reportedly cut ties – said she brought the young girl back down to Earth after breaking to her the results of the DNA test.
“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 told the Sun.
“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.”
Photos showing her similarity to Maddie have gained momentum online. Photo / Instagram/iammadeleinemccan
Wendell’s own family has also rejected – and begged her to stop perpetuating – her claims about being Madeleine McCann.
“For us as a family it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and stepniece. We have memories, we have pictures,” they said in an earlier statement.
“Julia also has these photos, because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges.
“We always tried to understand all situations that happened with Julia. Threats to our address from Julia, her lies and manipulation, activity on the internet … we’ve seen it all and we’ve tried to prevent it, explain it, we’ve asked her to stop.
“We always tried to help her get back on her feet. Julia has been of age for several years. She moved out of the house. She refuses treatment, does not take medication regularly. She also did not take advantage of the possibility of treatment at a very good centre in Poland, which agreed to accept her … The internet won’t forget [her behaviour], and it’s obvious that Julia isn’t Maddie. We are devastated at this situation.”
