A Polish woman in her early 20s claimed that she was Madeleine McCann — the missing British toddler from 2007 — on social media and the Dr. Phil show. After receiving backlash for her announcement, Julia Wendell emerged again to refute and express “regret” over her previous statements.
Despite having a track record of stealing other missing people’s identities, Julia told the BBC that she “never meant to hurt anyone— including McCanns” after a DNA test revealed she was lying. “I really want to know who I am,” she told the outlet.
Madeleine McCann lookalike regrets her actions
22-year-old Julia was abused as a child, with her parents refusing to answer if she was adopted or not. She has grown up with memory gaps and uncertainty about her upbringing, hence her actions. She also insists that Madeleine’s suspected kidnapper looks like her abuser. “I know what my abuser looks like,” she said. “And I know this is very, very similar to the suspects from Madeleine McCann’s page.”
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She received backlash on the internet from people who found her claims offensive. However, she did not expect the kind of mean comments she got. “I knew that there will be people who will not believe me or hate me, but I didn’t expect that I will get death threats,” she admitted. “I was trying to be strong even when people said, ‘you should die,’ ‘You should be raped,’ ‘You should be killed,’ ‘You should be murdered,’ ‘You shouldn’t exist in this world.’”
Julia asks for forgiveness from Madeleine’s parents
Julia apologized to the missing girl’s parents, Kate and Gerry. Her family also debunked her allegations, revealing they have “asked her to stop” her fantasist behaviors, which they have tried to prevent. “We always tried to understand all situations that happened with Julia,” they said. “Threats to our address from Julia, her lies and manipulations, activity on the internet— we’ve seen it all.”
Contrary to Julia’s oblivion about her origins, her family says they have memories and photos to prove she is truly their “daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step niece.”
“Julia also has these photos because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges,” they added.