Police in California have seized a cell phone in connection with a case involving the Polish woman who claimed to be the mother of missing toddler Madeleine McCann, according to officials.
Sgt. Mike Woodroof of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to The Post on Tuesday morning that a cell phone linked to Julia Faustyna’s case had recently been recovered, but declined to provide further details.
Dr. Fia Johansson, the self-proclaimed psychic detective who brought Faustyna, 21, to California last month after a string of death threats, previously told RadarOnline that the device was voluntarily handed over to investigators during a search and seizure.
The nature of the investigation is unknown.
Faustyna, also known as Julia Wendell, made headlines earlier this year when she claimed to be Madeleine McCann, a British toddler who went missing while on vacation in Portugal in May 2007.
Faustyna, who uses the handle @IAmMadeleineMcCann to share childhood photos and theories, doubled down on her allegations during an appearance on “Dr. Phil.”
However, in early April, a DNA test reportedly revealed that Faustyna was not the missing girl.
“She is absolutely 100 percent from Poland,” Johansson told RaderOnline at the time.
Faustyna later apologized to Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, after previously dismissing her parents’ claims that she stole her own birth certificate and childhood photos.
“It wasn’t my intention to bring sadness or any other negative emotion to anyone, especially McCann’s family,” she wrote in the 17-page statement.
“My main goal was always to figure out who I am and what happened in my very painful past.”
She also blasted Johansson, saying she didn’t give her all of the test results documents and was “trying to scare [her].”
Johansson responded in an interview with the UK’s Mirror, saying Faustyna was “immature,” “vulnerable,” and suffering from a variety of mental health issues.
The couple, who also have twins, came to public attention after their three-year-old daughter went missing from their vacation apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the night of May 3, 2007.
The investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance was closed by London police in March 2022, after years of intense media scrutiny. Christian Brueckner, a German sex offender, was named a suspect in the case one month later.
Brueckner is already in prison on charges related to a string of sex crimes against adults and children that he allegedly committed in Portugal, despite the fact that he has not been formally charged in the McCann investigation.