Exclusive Photos: Woman Who Claims She's Madeleine McCann Seen In Seclusion At U.S. Safe House After Fleeing From Poland
March 10 2023, Published 12:00 p.m. ET
RadarOnline.com has obtained exclusive photographs of the Polish woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann inside the Los Angeles safe house after fleeing her home country following a string of terrifying death threats.
Julia Wendell, 21, was all smiles as she got comfortable inside her new American home following a harrowing exit from the western city of Wroclaw, Poland, where she ruffled feathers trying to find the man who allegedly raped her as a child and unsuccessfully cajoled her uncooperative parents take a paternity test.
“I just want to make sure she is in a safe place until we actually figure out exactly where and how we are going to conduct the DNA tests,” said renowned private investigator Dr. Fia Johansson, who bravely retrieved Julia and bought her to the safe house.
“I do not want to disclose the location because I don’t want people to come after her and basically try to harm her,” added Johansson.
Wendell ignited the firestorm when she took to an Instagram account titled @IAmMadeleineMcCann and claimed she was the 3-year-old toddler kidnapped in 2007 while on a family vacation in Portugal.
“I think I can be Madeleine,” Wendell wrote in the account’s bio when it first appeared on February 18. “I need DNA test … Police investigators from UK and Poland try to ignore me. I will tell my story in posts here. Help me.”
Wendell claimed she has freckles on her leg and cheek as well as a coloboma in her right eye in the same places as the missing toddler.
As their investigation heated up, online death threats came pouring in. Abandoned by her parents and extended family — who she said treated her like an outsider throughout her life — Julia fled to the safe shores of America.
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“I really appreciate the actions of the United States because from the moment she landed they took the threats seriously,” Dr. Johansson told RadarOnline.com. “They recognized her face, and they went out of their way to help her get through customs. That really warmed her heart.”
“She was just so happy that the people were welcoming her into the United States,” she added. “Everyone showed compassion for her and her situation.”