The Tragic Madeleine McCann Hoax: What's next for Julia Wandelt after admission
This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion advised.
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The Polish woman, Julia Wandelt, who said she believed she was Madeleine McCann, has apologized to the missing girl's parents, writing, “I don't remember most of my memories, but I can remember some things and I never said that I am Madeleine McCann. 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'. The lengthy apology issued to Kate and Gerry McCann comes after a DNA test last week, on April 4, determined that Julia wasn’t the missing three-year-old Madeleine, who went missing on May 3, 2007.
On Wednesday, April 12, Julia, who has also been identified as Julia Wendell and Julia Faustyna, took to Facebook to admit, “it was my fault and it wasn’t my intention to bring sadness or another negative emotional to anyone, especially to McCann’s family. My main purpose was always to find out who I am and what exactly happened in my very hurtful past.” She recalled her past saying, "I was sexually abused in my childhood by Peter Ney. He is a german peadophile who hurt more children, not only me. He did it to me many times. It was in my bedroom, in the bedroom for guests who visit my mother’s house sometimes and in the living room."
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She further narrated her childhood trauma and said, "Living room in my mother’s house is the open room and when someone is in the kitchen that has no doors, this person can see everything what’s happening in the living room. Well, my mother was many times in the living room, when Peter Ney molested me on sofa and I really can’t believe that she didn’t see anything. I’m sure she saw everything what he did to me. In court judgment you can see a few months period of molesting. But what I can remember is that it was longer period of time. I always said to my therapists that I was sexually abused from 7 to 9 years old as I could remember and maybe it was even longer period or maybe it was shorter period of time. What I know in fact is that he hurt me so much and by doing that he destroyed my entire life."
She revealed the assault even during her interview with Dr Phil, which aired on March 27, 2023. She told Dr Phil, as per The Tab, “Peter Ney sexually abused me when I was a child. Peter Ney was convicted because of what he did to me.” And how he might be related to Martin Ney, who was once a suspect in the Madeleine investigation and has been accused of serious crimes like murder and child trafficking.
Julia first started to think she might be Madeleine McCann two months ago
In her FB post, she explained how it all started. "I came out with all these things almost 2 months ago because in the end of May 2022/beginning of June 2022, I started to ask again and because of my grandmother’s words about my mother I’ve started to feel that my mum is not my real mum. Tell me one thing: if your child would be sexually abused, would you allow a pedo monster to sleep in your house after you found out what this person did to your child? Would you go to the police as fast as it would be possible or would you stay at home and said very kind goodbye to abuser and even gave him a big hug and (as I can remember from statements from all court documents my mother even gave him a kiss to his cheek but I am not sure about it)."
She further added, "I made my coming out because nobody wanted to help me. Everyone said that I should go to another place, person from another institution. It wasn’t helpful. This is the reason of my social media’s coming out. I believe that my birth certificate could be forged. I still believe that it’s a possibility that I could be Madeleine and don’t be bad I will tell you why. When I was doing’s dna test in USA it was DNA kit from company called Ancestry. [Dr Fia Johansson] didn’t want to give me results over one week me asking for it. When she finally gave me access to my results I was so shocked because it was on another company’s website. Tell me please, how it’s possible that my results came to website of competitive company?"
Dr Fia 'made feel like I could trust her'
Dr Fia, a private detective and alleged psychic, is the one who supported Wandelt's claims and launched an investigation into the case. Julia said, "Fia contacted me mid February via instagram to reach out about McCann situation. Between then she made feel like I could trust her and only her and we did some lives on instagram." And added that she flew to California on March 6. "During my time there, Fia made me feel as though I could trust no one I was trapped in the house, wasn’t allowed outside alone or do anything. She verbally abused me multiple times and physically one time when she pushed me into a wall after I self harmed and told me I’m crazy and need to be locked in a hospital. It was at this time I questioned if she was a real psychologist," she explained.
"She didn’t allow me to have my phone from the second I arrived and banned me from social media. She also gave me a phone to contact my boyfriend only. I now know she was messaging people pretending to be me from my phone. She also created apps and charged people to have a fake text conversations with me," she said and further expressed, "Fia made me go on dr Phil, and she asked me to say something that was a lie, when I didn’t want to and I told Fia that she was a liar. She screamed at me and said 'if you call me a liar I will tell everyone that Peter Ney never hurt you.'"
On the other hand, despite speaking to media and supporting the claims of Julia to be Madeleine, Dr Fia now says, after the DNA results, “I have always believed Madeleine is alive, but when I flew out to Poland, I knew Julia wasn’t Madeleine. I knew all of the disorders Julia had. She was immature and couldn’t recognize who she was. She needed to get closure. I believe in this now - I believe if Julia did not come out the way she did, there would not be the interest in Madeleine’s case. At least Julia warned people not to give up on Maddy’s case. Next time, it could be Madeleine,” reports NZ Herald.
What next for Julia Wandelt?
After the DNA results, Julia has now returned to Poland and has launched a fundraiser after she claimed that she was "coerced" into the US trip. She has made a "shameful" plea stating, "I need to find a good lawyer, therapist." "I really need your help but if you don't want to help I will understand. I created this fundraiser because many kind people wrote me that I should do this because it's a possibility for me to pay for lawyer and therapy," read the screenshot of the fundraiser on her Instagram story.
The fundraiser, which has raised around $743K, read, "Now I’m at home in Poland and trying to return to a somewhat normal life with my boyfriend and my lovely cat Monte - I am being met with vicious untrue statements and outright lies pertaining to ny character. I need to get back on my feet, I need to be able to get myself to a place where I can return to the work force and thrive in the career I choose. In order to do that I need support around me such as lawyers and professionals. Most importantly, I really want to be happy and safe and work through all I was subjected to in youth and young adulthood. Alongside this, I while in the states felt I had a reality shift in what I am most passionate about in life. I want to help people, and possibly go back to school. Getting me back on my feet will be the beginning of this."