February 28, 2023
The Madeleine McCann case is once again in the media spotlight after a 21-year-old Polish national living in Germany made claims that she is the missing British girl who disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007.
Aspiring model and singer, Julia Faustyna, who is also known as Julia Wendell, has made controversial claims that she is missing British girl, Madeleine McCann. She claims that she came to this conclusion after overhearing her grandmother talking about the famous case.
Julia created an Instagram account, @iammadeleinemccan, which at the time of writing has amassed over one million followers. She has also contacted several police departments in Poland concerning the situation, and has also reached out to the McCann family.
She claims that she created the Instagram account after failing to receive the desired response from her contact with the authorities, and began posting images of herself as a child alongside images of Madeleine McCann for comparison. Madeleine McCann would be 19 years old today and Julia is currently 21. Julia claims one of her teachers told her that she began school much later than the other children in her class, which she argues explains the discrepancy in age. She claims that she has never seen her birth certificate and that she has never seen a photograph of her mother pregnant with her.
She has also wrote on her social media profile that she remembers very little of her childhood, however, said she recalled spending time in warm holiday locations without her family, writing:
“I remember that I saw turtles on the beach, it was a little bay as I can remember, I saw them then and there were another children and they tried to touch small turtles. I don’t see my family in this memory.”
Julia also shared a police sketch from the Madeleine McCann case depicting a drawing of a male suspect who was seen carrying a small child on the night the British girl went missing in 2007. Julia said of the sketch: “I recognize this person...it looks very similar to my abuse.”
Both Julia Faustyna and Madeleine McCann share the same rare eye defect, a coloboma that gives the appearance of a dark blemish from the pupil into the bottom portion of the iris. A coloboma is a condition present due to missing tissue in or around the eye and effects and is a result of the eye not developing properly during pregnancy. The chance of being born with coloboma increases if a mother consumed alcohol while pregnant and the condition effects 1 in 10,000 people. Images compared side by side appear to show the colobomas of both girls sitting in a slightly different position. Julia has also claimed to share the same moles on her legs as Madeleine.
She shared images of her face as an adult next to images of the faces of the McCanns, drawing similarities. An image of Julia and her own mother has been published online, however, and shows a striking resemblance, specifically across the nose and mouth.
Julia said that she created profiles on Instagram and TikTok (which has at the time of writing been deleted) in a desperate plea for help as she wasn’t getting assistance from the polish authorities, despite reaching out to them. She wrote:
“I have similar eyes, shape of face, ears, lips, I had the gap between the teeth. I need to know the truth. I need a DNA test and I need to talk with Madeleine’s parents. Help me!”
Since amassing a large following on her Instagram, Julia has been going live with an American Medium, Dr. Fia Johansson, also known as Persian Medium, who is also a private detective who seems to be representing her as a spokesperson.
Johansson’s official website describes her as follows:
Dr. Fia Johansson, known as Persian Medium, the Subconscious Mind Surgeon, is celebrity medium, film producer, master entrepreneur coach, and keynote speaker. She has been featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Fox, CBS, NBC, and ABC for her wide array of work with helping solve difficult cases with law enforcement and intelligence agencies, as well as her entrepreneurial prowess.
Dr. Fia Johansson’s website includes a section titled: Shocking & Accurate Predictions in the Case of Madeleine McCann, wherein a statement claims Johansson predicted the arrest of a German suspect, Christian Brückner, who was charged with several sexual offences allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. The statement reads:
From December 2019, people have seen many of my interviews with the @dailystar @dailymirror @meaww @crimedaily and big newspapers and websites about Madeleine McCann. Madeleine went missing 13 years ago as a toddler from a resort in Portugal. News broke recently about a new German suspect, confirming numerous of my predictions regarding this tragic case. I can't respond to everyone sending messages and DMs, so I'm making a statement here that I am sure Madeleine is alive. I agree with her parents: without a body or DNA evidence, you can't just conclude that she died. They need to bring evidence. I'm glad this German suspect is detained, but it took months of screaming about it. I've always been able to connect with the dead, but I've never been able to connect with Madeleine. I know she is alive. I started this career wedge I was just seventeen and have been involved in helping solve so many similar cases. Now I'm a licensed private investigator and this is still on my radar. There is still more to come.
(Please see our previous post on the suspect here)
According to reports on the case, Julia Faustyna’s family are angry and disappointed at Julia’s claims that she is Madeleine McCann and have warned Julia against giving the McCann’s false hope.
Gerry and Kate McCann have not, at the time of writing, issued a statement on the matter, however, according to media outlets, they have agreed to a DNA test, however this information was allegedly passed along by “sources close to the family.” An attorney for the family declined to confirm if this was the case.
Polish newspaper, Gazeta Poland, recently published that Julia's family issued a statement via Facebook insisting that Julia was indeed their blood-relative, claiming that she has issues with her mental health and has been rejecting prescribed medication.
The statement included: “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," a translated version of the statement reads. "Julia also has these photos, because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges. Faustyna has had numerous therapies, medicines, psychologists and psychiatrists, but she, moved out of the house and refuses treatment."
The newspaper also wrote that Julia's birth certificate was presented to authorities, however, Dr. Fia Johansson claimed in a recent Instagram Live video that the police are unaware of the situation.
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