18 April 2023 , 10:57
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The woman who mistakenly believed she was missing toddler Madeleine McCann has broken her silence after police said her phone was seized as part of an investigation.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department in California has contacted police in Wroclaw, Poland's largest city, after obtaining a device which has been said to belong to 21-year-old Julia Wendell.
Julia, who is currently in Poland with her dad, spent a brief spell in California with Dr Fia Johansson, who was her "spokeswoman" before a bitter falling out, after she received death threats.
It's currently unknown if Julia had the device when she returned home to Poland.
Speaking to RadarOnline.com, a self-styled "psychic private investigator" Dr Fia claimed that the phone was handed over voluntarily as part of a police search and seizure.
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The OC Sheriff's office confirmed it was involved, but refused to provide any further specific details.
Maddie went missing from her parent's holiday home in Portugal in 2007 (PA)
Julia is now back in Poland (help-for-julia-wandelt/gogetfunding)“We are not going to make any comments about the case,” Department Spokesman Sgt. Mike Woodroof told RadarOnline.com.
“Our investigation is taking a deep look into it and we’re going to let them do their investigative duties and then from that point let the judicial system take over – if it needs to.”
Julia set the internet reeling after going viral for questioning if she could be the missing tot.
Maddie vanished without a trace from her room during a family holiday in Portugal's Praia de Luz in 2007.
Kate and Gerry McCann (PA)On her page she was asking for help in obtaining a DNA test which would prove one way or another whether she was the missing child.
After her blood was checked, it was confirmed that she was no relation to Madeleine - due to her not having English roots.
In a statement on her Instagram last week, she wrote: "It wasn't my intention to bring sadness or any other negative emotion to anyone, especially to McCann's family."
The comments were part of a 17-page statement she also claimed never to have been Maddie - rather that she had only questioned if she was.
She wrote: "I don't remember most of my memories, but I can remember some things and I never said that I am Madeleine McCann.
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"I used this sentence to create a nickname for my old Instagram account, it was my mistake and I know it and I apologise for that because I should use words 'Am I Madeleine McCann?' not 'I Am'. So, it was my fault.
"My main purpose was always to find out who I am and what exactly happened in my very hurtful past."
However, Wendell said there is still a chance of her being the missing child, despite the DNA to prove otherwise.
She said: "I still believe that it's a possibility that I could be Madeleine."