Julia Wandelt: Here's why investigator believes woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann 'isn't lying'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann, "isn't lying," as per the private investigator who has been helping her determine her true identity. Julia Wandelt, who claims she might be the missing child, recently appeared on Dr Phil to tell her story and present "evidence" to prove her assertions.
Wandelt, who hails from Poland, claims she has a defect on her iris similar to the one McCann had. She also cites a similar mark on her face as evidence and has described her earliest memories as "the beach and water, like sea or ocean" — something talk show host Dr Phil described as "eerily similar to the place where Madeleine McCann was last seen alive." Self-professed psychic and private investigator Dr Fia Johansson, who has been helping Julia uncover the truth, was by her side throughout the Monday, March 27 episode to back up her claims.
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'I don’t believe that she’s lying'
“I tried to ask her certain questions in a different way. Every single answer came back exactly the same," Johansson told the popular TV host. "When we [make] up stories normally we may have some changes in the middle of it because that’s not a true story. All these stories that she said about those memories, those thoughts, those images, those visions, it was exactly the same. So to me, I don’t believe that she’s lying about the memories or visions. I believe she remembers things, she’s trying to connect with those thoughts, and she’s trying to navigate them, that, 'is it really possible that I was there at that time.'"
Julia's earliest memories
As mentioned, Julia recalled her earliest memory, saying it was the only one she has from before the age of eight. Her recollections appear to be similar to descriptions of the place where Madeleine went missing during a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007. "Before eight I have only this one early memory with beach and water, like sea or ocean and there were turtles and children try[ing] to catch turtles and take them [in] their hands," the 21-year-old explained to Dr Phil. "And I remember light-colored buildings, like white or a very light color... sunlight on this building," she added.
Johansson chimed in, "[At] three years old, it’s very hard to remember things. But some backlash from [the] subconscious mind, [...] it could come back with some trauma." Julia is currently living in the US awaiting the results of DNA and genetics tests, which will determine whether or not she is the missing child. Johansson went live on Instagram last week and explained that if Julia's genetics test shows she is British, her DNA sample will be compared to one from Madeleine McCann. "I am really badly waiting for and checking every day the status of it," the psychic told her 9.5 million followers of the test results.
'We’ve asked her to stop'
On the other hand, Julia's family issued a plea last month for her to "stop," saying it was "obvious" she wasn't Madeleine. "For us as a family, it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin, and step-niece. We have memories, we have pictures. Julia also has these photos, because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges," they said. The family accused Wandelt of spreading “lies on the internet” and sending threats to their home address. “We always tried to understand all situations that happened with Julia,” the family continued. “Threats to our address from Julia, her lies and manipulations, activity on the internet."
“We’ve seen it all and we’ve tried to prevent it, to explain, we’ve asked her to stop. We always tried to help her get back on her feet," they told the press. They also claimed that Julia "always wanted to be popular; what’s happening now she got one million followers." They added, “We’re afraid Julia will carry the inevitable. The internet won’t forget, and it’s obvious that Julia isn’t Maddie. We are devastated at this current situation.”