The young woman who made sensational claims thinking she was the British missing toddler, Madeleine McCann, says she regrets her decision after facing death threats.
The 22-year-old, from Poland, became known worldwide when she insisted she was Madeleine in a series of posts on social media with the username ‘@IammadeleineMcCann’.
Madeleine McCann disappeared at the age of three, in May 2007, in Praia da Luz, Algarve, Portugal, in a mystery that remains unsolved.
Speaking to the BBC, Julia Wandelt said: “I never meant to hurt anyone – including the McCanns. I really wanted to know who I am.”
She added: “I would never go on social media. It can destroy you.” Her claims led to the woman flying across the Atlantic and appearing on American talk shows including Dr Phil to talk about her beliefs.
Julia Wandelt was persuaded to take a DNA test and results proved conclusively that she had no relation to Madeleine. She has since told a BBC podcast series how she “regrets” the entire bizarre affair.
She also claims she suffered from gaps in her memory following childhood abuse and became suspicious about her upbringing after her parents dismissed her queries on whether she was adopted.
Both Julia and Madeleine have a coloboma of the iris. It is a rare eye abnormality that affects one in every 10,000 babies and is presented by a gap in the iris that can make the pupil look keyhole-shaped.
The social media profile she created which boosted speculation led to a whole new community online that offered support in the form of validation and gifts including bracelets and teddy bears, but the popularity also brought criticism and abuse.
Julia said: “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, for example. It was something that I don’t understand. People knew that I was abused and they all knew that I deal with depression.”
According to Julia, the online abuse went so far that one person even claimed to have put a bounty on her head.
Julia maintains that there was no malintent behind her claims, and that she really did believe she was the British toddler.
BBC disinformation and social media correspondent, Marianna Spring, said she spoke to people connected to the McCanns and the family’s official search organisation, Find Madeleine, who said they were willing to accept Julia’s apology.
