TIMELINE OF A HOAX? How Julia Wandelt brought hope to Madeleine McCann's parents and then took it away
LONDON, ENGLAND: Thousands of people were left baffled after Julia Wandelt, a 21-year-old Polish girl, created an Instagram account in an attempt to prove she is Madeleine McCann, a minor who went missing in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007. Her claims prompted a massive social media conversation where some believed her and some accused her of lying.
McCann disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment on the evening of May 3, 2007, at the age of three. Her whereabouts remain unknown, but German prosecutors believe she is dead. Shocking claims by Wandelt, who also goes by the names Julia Wendell and Julia Faustyna, led to a series of events.
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Julia Wandelt goes on Instagram live to claim she is Madeleine McCann
Wandelt launched her Instagram page, 'I am Madeleine McCann', last month and went live to make the shocking claims. In the video, which soon went viral, she claimed she is 21 but not sure of her real identity or age. She said she has similar spots on her body that McCann had.
Julia Wandelt says her parents didn’t want to talk to her about her claims
The Tab reached out to Wandelt the morning after she went viral, and she said she reached out to the police several times. However, she alleged that she was told it will not be investigated. “I called my local police, Capital city police, the MET police, Portugal police and Crimestoppers,” she said. “A few months ago I talked with Operation Grange, too.”
She said that she spoke to her family about her beliefs, but they refused to talk about it. “[My] mother didn’t want to talk about it,” she said. “She said the past is in the past and she is not going to talk about the past. She said now is the future and we should focus on the future. My dad said, ‘even if I am not your father will it change anything?’”.
Madeleine McCann's family agrees to a DNA test
After Wandelt's story went viral, someone from the McCann family saw it. “The family are taking no chances, they are willing to look at all leads,” a source said at the time, according to The Tab. “It is important they look at all of the factors, the girl does look similar. There’s no disputing that. If what she says is true, there is every chance it could be her. It all adds up.”
Julia Wandelt continues to publish 'evidence'
Wandelt continued to publish what she said was 'evidence' to prove she is McCann, including a video of McCann's mother, Kate, which transitions into an image of her own face. She suggested it revealed the similarities between the two. She also said she was a victim to a German pedophile.
“I don’t remember most of my childhood but my earliest memory is very strong and it’s about holidays in hot place where there was a beach and white or very light coloured buildings with apartments,” she said. “I don’t see my family in this memory.”
Julia Wandelt's parents speak out
Pawel Noga of the Provincial Police Headquarters in the western city of Wroclaw said investigators had “ruled out” Wandelt's claims after meeting with her biological family, who said she suffered from psychiatric issues.
Wandelt, on the other hand, accused her family of calling her “not normal” for giving “hope to the McCanns" and labeling her as a “horrible person” who they “don’t want to know any more”. She alleged her mother told her, "You are sick, Julia," and accused her of “setting up a circus”. The family refused to take a DNA test that could have solved the mystery.
'We took her’
Julia Wandelt later said she remembers an old conversation where she overheard her mother. Dr Fia Johansson, a private detective and psychic medium who launched an investigation into the case, said at the time, according to The Sun, “What we found after some digging into this is that she overheard her mom saying something along the lines of ‘I don’t know why we have this girl, she has always been a troublemaker since we took her’. Since then she started to question what was going on and whether her parents were her true parents.”
Later, McCann’s parents hired an investigator named Francisco Marco. “Without knowing the details in depth, it doesn’t add up to me. I don’t think it’s her," he told Spanish newspaper El Independiente.
Julia Wandelt's real parents share 'proof' that she is lying
Wandelt's parents then went to share evidence to prove their daughter was lying. "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. Julia has been of age for several years. She has moved out of the house. Julia once wanted to be a singer, a model. She always wanted to be popular. What’s happening now she got one million followers," they said. “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.”
Police 'rule out' Julia Wandelt's case
Polish Police dismissed Wandelt's case after her parents spoke out. Julia and Dr Fia then began to say they are “open” to the idea Julia could be “any” missing child out there. Investigators started looking into whether she could be missing child Livia Schepp, a Swiss girl who vanished in 2011 with her twin Alessia. They were aged six at the time.
Dr Fia said, “Julia is very open to the idea that she may be Livia Schepp and we are investigating this possibility. I’ve spoken to her about this and she is open to the fact she could be any missing child out there – not just Madeleine. Julia just wants to know the truth about who she is. Julia has taken a DNA test and we are investigating if it’s possible to check her DNA with that of missing Livia. We are investigating all possibilities at this stage.”
Meanwhile, the ‘@iammadeleinemcann’ Instagram account was taken down soon after Dr Fia said troll accounts spreading "lies" on Instagram led to the account's suspension.