A Timeline of Things We Know About Julia Wendell, The Polish Teenager Who Believes She Is Madeleine McCann.

Last Updated on March 3, 2023 by Ben Oakley

The disappearance of British three-year-old Madeleine McCann in May 2007 is the most widely reported missing persons case of the past 100 years.

The investigation has spanned multiple countries, involved hundreds of detectives, thousands of web sleuths and has been the subject of dozens of documentaries.

One overarching fact remains, she has never been found. Theories range from an inside job to the child slave trade. The truth is, no one truly knows what happened except maybe Madeleine herself.

On Valentine’s Day 2023, an Instagram account with the username iammadeleinemccan was activated. Within a week, the account had reached over one-million followers and hit headline news.

The person running the account named herself as 21-year-old Polish woman Julia Wendell who claimed to be the missing British toddler. Here’s a timeline of what we know so far.

December 2019: Psychic Fia Johansson Claims to Have Tracked Down Madeleine McCann.

Fiona Johansson who goes by Dr Fia Johansson is an author, actress, motivational coach, private investigator, influencer, entrepreneur and more importantly, she claims to be psychic. Her Instagram account has over 9 million followers.

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A post shared by Dr. Fia Johansson (@persianmedium)

The Daily Star ran a story in which Fia predicted Madeleine was alive and living under a new identity with a Germany family. Her German kidnapper was already in jail but someone else in the crime gang took Madeleine away

There was a lady, I can feel it – around the age of 45 or 47 – who almost pushed Madeleine away. I think the reason they couldn’t sell Madeleine right away was the publicity. It was too risky, everybody was talking about her, so they pushed Madeleine away.

The Daily Star reported that Fia made the revelation two months earlier.

June 2020: German Sex Offender Christian Brueckner Becomes Prime Suspect.

German sex offender Christian Brueckner became a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance. However, despite his convictions for rape and drug offences, it seems there might not be enough forensic evidence to convict him.

On the basis of him becoming a suspect, Fia announced on Instagram that many of her predictions relating to the McCann case were coming true.

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.

In June 2020, Fia took to Instagram and claimed she had been right all along and that there was still more to come.

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14th February 2023: Instagram account ‘iammadeleinemccan’ goes live.

On 14th February 2023, a new Instagram account called iammadeleinemccan appeared and the first few posts were made. The first post was of a young woman with the picture of a man crudely rubbed out.

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A post shared by Help me, I need to talk with Kate and Gerry McCann (@iammadeleinemccan)

The second post appeared with the first reason why the account holder believed she was the missing girl.

I don’t remember most of my childhood but my earliest memory is very strong and It’s about holidays in hot place where was beach and White or very light couloured buildings with apartaments. I remember that I saw turttles on the beach it was little Bay as I can remember I saw turttles then and there were another children and they tried to touch small turttles. I don’t see my family in this memory.

The third post claimed she recognised one of the suspects from the official Find Madeleine website.

After the first few posts went live, she named herself as Julie Faustyna but investigation into her other social media accounts discovered her real name was Julia Wendell.

17th February: Julia Claims To have The Same Features as Madeleine.

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A post shared by Help me, I need to talk with Kate and Gerry McCann (@iammadeleinemccan)

It’s clear from the side-by-side photo above that the images are of two different girls but Julia thinks it is possible she is indeed Madeleine McCann. Another post shares images of eye and face markings she claims are similar to Madeleine’s.

So if she is not Madeleine McCann then what the hell is going on?

19th February: Fia Johansson Becomes Julia’s Official Media Relations Manager.

In a video posted on the 19th by Julia, she is having a live meeting with Fia.

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A post shared by Help me, I need to talk with Kate and Gerry McCann (@iammadeleinemccan)

The video drives people to Fia’s own Instagram account where her recent posts contain details of her earlier endeavours to find Madeleine. A day later, Julia pins the following image to the Instagram account.

20th February: Julia’s Family Claims She is Sick and Needs Help.

Reports begin showing up in various news outlets that Julia’s family had been messaging her saying she was sick and needed psychiatric help.

Many of the messages where screenshotted by Julia and posted to various social media she was running. One message stated Julia had been setting up a circus and another suggested her boyfriend was going to leave because of her claims.

You are sick, Julia. I’m selling the house and none of us will answer the phone if you call, for everything you’ve done and the embarrassment you’ve put me through.

21st Feb: Fia Posts an Update to Her Instagram.

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A post shared by Help me, I need to talk with Kate and Gerry McCann (@iammadeleinemccan)

To everyone interested in Julia’s search for answers, please understand we are in the middle of an investigation. This is a vulnerable woman seeking answers about her identity and her life. Regardless of your opinions, she is a human being who deserves respect. When everything is done in the investigation in a few weeks, you can learn more, but more now, please respect this woman’s privacy. Her background was challenging and messy. There is no need to spew hatred, judgment, and especially threats towards a person in need. This is unacceptable and needs to stop.

As the case investigation continues, perhaps the truth will come out either way. A DNA test is being planned.

It’s not the first-time people have claimed to be Madeleine McCann.

In November 2021, a TikTok user shared a photo of her passport because her friends said she looked like the missing girl. Curiously she was also called Maddie.

Her claim has since been debunked.

UPDATE: the Instagram account under the name of iammadeleinemccan was deactivated less than two weeks after going live. Fia claims it was due to the account being reported and it might go back up again. This is becoming a bit of a non-story, so we won’t make future updates to this one.

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