Woman who believes she may be Madeleine McCann records her first TV interview with Dr Phil

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By Asiya Ali

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The woman who believes that she may be the missing Madeleine McCann will appear in her first TV interview with Dr. Phil.

As we have previously reported, 21-year-old Julia Wendell - who is also being referred to as Julia Faustyna or Julia Wandelt in media reports - earned social media fame after repeatedly claiming she could be the missing British girl.

On May 3, 2007, the then-three-year-old disappeared from a vacation apartment in Portugal while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were at a nearby restaurant. They made sure to regularly check on their children, who were sleeping at the time.

Despite extensive searches from Portuguese law enforcement and appeals in the following years, there has been no trace of Maddie's whereabouts.

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Madeleine McCann. Credit: James Boardman Archive / Alamy

Before ultimately deleting her social media accounts, Julia made some bold claims, stating that she has specific features that link her to Maddie including a speck on her eye.

She also argued that she doesn't remember parts of her childhood but added that she was abused by a German man who bears a resemblance to the prime suspect in the Maddie case, Christian Brueckner.

Due to her claims, she underwent a DNA test to rule out whether she is another missing girl. Web sleuths have suggested that Julia might instead be Livia Schepp, a Swiss girl who vanished at the age of six in 2011 along with her twin Alessia.

In addition to this, the woman - who moved from Poland to the US recently - submitted samples for three separate forensic tests that will establish her DNA sequence with the help of Dr. Fia Johansson - a private investigator and self-professed psychic.

The California-based medium spoke with RaderOnline.com about the tests, saying: "If the results come back that she's British or from that area then we are going to continue our investigation into Madeleine McCann and communicate with the detectives in Portugal."

"We have a lot of evidence right now that shows Julia was definitely trafficked to Poland from another country by an international sex trafficking group," she went on. "We are still conducting an investigation but Julia is definitely not the biological daughter of her parents in Poland."

While the Polish girl is waiting for the results, Dr. Johansson - who is sharing updates on the case on her Instagram page - announced to her followers that Julia will make her first TV appearance on Dr. Phil soon.

"I'm very happy for Julia getting a platform to courageously speak up, shedding light on her violent and abusive past and hopefully bringing her closer to justice! Airing on Tuesday, March 27th," she wrote in a post.

Dr. Johansson also provided a preview video of the episode sent by family friend. In the clip - which has no sound - Julia says: "I believe that I am Madeleine McCann."

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Credit: Dr. Johansson's Instagram story

While that seems to be the latest development in her case, the Daily Star reported that in the private investigator's 40-minute Instagram Live, she addressed Maddie's parents.

"A lot of you ask why Kate and Gerry (are not involved)," she said, per the outlet. "There is no need - Madeleine McCann's DNA is already there. They don't need to get involved with media press."

"When the DNA test comes, which I am really badly waiting for - checking every day for the status - we will match with a DNA test of (Madeleine) McCann. [Or] anyone else out there, looking for their kid that may [have gone] missing at that time," she added.

Julia has been in the US for the past few weeks - while the DNA tests were being conducted - and staying with Dr. Johansson due to concerns about her safety from online trolls.

Featured image credit: cello / Alamy