A Polish woman who believes she could be Madeleine McCann has submitted samples for forensic testing to determine if she is the missing Brit.
Julia Faustyna, who also goes by Julia Wendell, has been claiming on Instagram and TikTok that she may be the child – who disappeared from a family holiday in Portugal in 2007 – due to similarities in their age and appearance.
She has amassed tens of thousands of followers on both platforms as a result, posting under the handle @iammadeleinemccann.
The 21-year-old has submitted samples for three different forensic examinations that will outline her DNA sequence, along with a 23andMe-style genetic test to establish her ancestry, private investigator Dr Fia Johansson told RadarOnline.com.
“If the results come back that she’s British or from that area then we are going to continue our investigation into Madeleine McCann and communicate with the detectives in Portugal,” said Dr Johansson, who relocated Ms Wendell from Poland to a safe house in the United States after a series of death threats.
“We have a lot of evidence right now that shows Julia was definitely trafficked to Poland from another country by an international sex trafficking group.
“We are still conducting an investigation but Julia is definitely not the biological daughter of her parents in Poland.”
If Ms Wendell’s ancestry comes from the same region as Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, Dr Johansson said she will immediately send the DNA sequence to Portuguese investigators for comparison.
Ms Wendell – who has said she does not “remember most of my childhood” – previously said that Madeleine’s parents have agreed to a DNA test.
She claims that details of her childhood don’t add up, leading her to believe that she was abducted as a toddler, and that she has a spot in her right eye and a beauty mark on her cheek similar to Madeleine.
Earlier this month, however, Pawel Noga from the Provincial Police Headquarters in Wroclaw told Polish news outlet Gazeta that authorities have “ruled out” Ms Wendell’s version of events to be “true”, according to an English translation of the outlet’s report.
In a 15-minute video posted to her Instagram, Ms Wendell and her “spokesperson”, psychic medium and private investigator, Dr Johansson, refuted the officers’ statement.
Dr Johansson said that “no police officers in Poland said that she (Julia) or she is not Madeleine McCann” and it was “all lies”.
She said the pair also intended to “force” Ms Wendell’s mother to submit to a DNA test.
Internet users have also speculated that Ms Wendell could be Swiss girl Livia Schepp, who disappeared in 2011 with her twin Alessia, aged six.
“Julia is very open to the idea she may indeed be another missing child and they are hoping to carry out a DNA test with her family,” Dr Johansson recently told The Sun.
“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.
“One of the reasons she made the connection to Madeleine is because one of the suspects in Madeleine’s case looks very much like a man who she says abused her as a child.
“But the same man could be connected to Madeleine and other missing children – this is how predators and traffickers work.
“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.”
Ms Wendell’s family in Poland, meanwhile, have spoken of their “devastation” at her claims.
“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,” the family said in a Facebook statement, via Polish missing persons organisation Missing Years Ago.
“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. Numerous therapies, medicines, psychologists and psychiatrists – Julia had it all guaranteed. She wasn’t left alone.
“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.”
The family hinted at Ms Wendell’s motivations, writing that she “always wanted to be popular”.
But, Dr Johansson urged the family to consider a DNA test, and to “get in touch with us directly so we can discuss the case with them rather than releasing statements online”.
“Some of the information Julia has told us and the evidence we’ve seen doesn’t match what the family are saying so we would like to talk about it directly with them,” she told The Sun.
“It seems suspicious to me that Julia’s family will not take a test, which could clear these claims up very quickly.”
