'I'm telling you guys, my team and me, we are investigating'
The young woman who thinks she is
Madeleine McCann is now working with a psychic who has helped the DA crack cold cases.
Julia Wendell believes she is the missing daughter of Kate and Gerry McCann, who disappeared in 2007 during a family trip to Portugal when she was just four years old.
Julia, who at 21 would be two years older than Maddie, has cited freckles and an eye defect as proof, which has led to an outpouring of abuse on social media.
However, a number of newspapers have reported that the McCann family are "willing to look at all leads" in the search for their daughter and
want a DNA test.
In the face of the backlash, Julia, who lives in Poland, has sought help from Persian medium, holistic healer and investigator Dr Fia Johansson who has reportedly helped the US police on missing person cases.
Forbes profiled her in 2019 under the headline: Meet The Medium Who Helps Law Enforcement Solve The Unsolveable.
Fia, who has over 9m Instagram followers, has previously claimed that some of her predications around the Maddie case have come true. Part of her theory was that she was living with a German and that
"one day she will accidentally meet her parents". The prime suspect in Maddie's disappearance is German.
Fia has now issued a statement saying she is investigating Julia's case and urged people to show her "respect and privacy" and stop the abuse.
In an Instagram video, which has gained more than 10,000 likes, Fia said: "Julia's mental health, at this moment, it's not okay because of a lot of haters out there, because of a lot of comments and a lot of nastiness that went through directly to her skin.
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"At this moment, she needs help. I do understand that 50% of you guys hate her now to the hundredth degree, just because you guys think and believe that she's 'not the real person, that she's not Madeleine, she's this and that'.
"I'm telling you guys, my team and me, we are investigating already about her family, her background, where she came from, which family she belonged to, what school actually she went to, and all other details.
"We understand that this case, Madeleine's case, would be very sensitive for every, each of you."
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In the caption, Fia told her followers she was "in the middle of an investigation" and that Julia is "a vulnerable woman seeking answers about her identity and her life".
She said that Julia's background was "challenging messy" but there is "no need to spew hatred, judgement and especially threats".
In a separate video on Fia's own Instagram account, posted on Monday, she conducts an interview with Julia.
In the caption she wrote: "This is the interview between me and a beautiful young lady who feels or believes she could be Madeline. What's so important is to make sure Julia finds herself and identity. When some women ask for help, especially the ones that got abused and went through a tough childhood, it's my responsibility to help. She is emotional, sad, confused, and scared of the unknown. What's important is the fact that we all have a duty to help her."
In another post Fia writes: "I will continue to work to bring her back. I am so close."
Maddie was just four years old when she disappeared from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007. No trace of her has ever been found and no one has been arrested.
The prime suspect in the disappearance, convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, has been charged in Germany with unrelated sexual offences. He is accused of five offences between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal. German prosecutors say the investigation into Maddie's disappearance is ongoing separately.
Maddie would be 19 in April.
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