Julia Wandel Credit: Go get funding

A woman who claimed to be Madeleine McCann, has been charged with four counts of stalking the missing girl’s family.

Julia Wandel, also known as Julia Wandelt, was arrested at on Wednesday at Bristol Airport on suspicion of stalking involving serious alarm and distress.

The 23-year-old is alleged to have sent messages, left voicemails and turned up at the McCann family home between 3 January 2024 and 15 February 2025.
Appearing at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Wandel, who is originally from Poland, was remanded into custody to appear for a plea hearing at the city’s crown court on 7 April.
Wandel is alleged to have gone to the McCanns’ home twice, on 2 May and 7 December 2024, as well as sending WhatsApp messages to Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry, and Instagram messages to her siblings, according to court documents.

Wandel made headlines after in 2023 sharing her claims on Instagram, claiming she has “gaps in her memory” of childhood after suffering abuse.

But DNA testing later contradicted her claims, confirming that Wandel’s ethnic heritage is Polish, Lithuanian, and Romanian.

Leicestershire Police said a 60-year-old woman from Wales, who was also arrested alongside Wandel on suspicion of stalking, has been released on bail.

Madeleine McCann was three-year olds when she disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007, sparking a global search for the girl. Despite widespread media coverage, the mystery of her disappearance remains unsolved.

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