A woman who claimed to be Madeleine McCann is now in detention after being accused of tracking down the family of the missing girl by constantly contacting them and showing up at their home in the United Kingdom
Julia Wandel, also known as Julia Wandelt or Julia Wendell, was arrested Wednesday In a Bristol airport, reports The Guardian.
According to the point of sale, it was Harassment Four members of the McCann family – Parents Gerry and Kate, and the twin brothers and sisters Sean and Amelie – throughout 2024 and in 2025. She would also have made unwanted and unsolicited visits at their home twice, in May and December of the last time.
File – In this file photo of May 2, 2012, Kate and Gerry McCann pose for the media with a missing poster representing a computer generated by the age of their daughter Madeleine at nine, to mark his birthday and the 5th anniversary of his disappearance during family vacation in southern Portugal in May 2007, during a press conference in London.
Tan blood / The Associated Press
The accusations indicate that the alleged contact, which was in the form of telephone calls, voice messages, a letter and WhatsApp and Instagram messages, “had a substantial negative effect” on the family.
In 2023, Wandel began to publish many “evidence” of social media, saying that she believed that she could be the missing McCann, which disappeared without trace in 2007 when she was only three years old on vacation With the family in Portugal.
Get national news
For news that has an impact on Canada and worldwide, register for the safeguarding of news alerts that are delivered to you directly when they occur.
The knot of his “proof” concerning physical resemblance revolved around the rare McCann eyes disorder, a Wandel said they were sharing. When McCann has disappeared, a colobom abnormality in its right eye was used as a major identification characteristic. (A color is a hole in the structure of the eye, often causing a tear or a visible hole.)
She also claimed to have the same dimple as McCann, several moles and freckles in the same way, and similar gaps in her teeth.
However, two months later, his spokesman said that a DNA test had confirmed that Wandel was not the missing girl. In fact, the test has shown that Wandel has a Polish heritage almost 100%, without any proof of British or even German ancestry.
Polish police challenged Wandel’s claims that she was McCann about a week after reaching the viral renown and that Wandel’s own parents spoke of her campaign, saying that they were “devastated” by his claims and the Payers global media.
On the left is Julia Wandel, the Polish who claimed to be a missing girl, Madeleine McCann, on the right.
@ iammadeleinemccan / family of Madeleine McCann
“It is obvious that Julia is not Maddie,” they wrote in a statement on the Facebook page “Missing years”Adding that their daughter has received therapy from psychologists and psychiatrists in the past, but suggesting that this could have stopped recently.
“She refuses treatment, does not take medication regularly … We are devastated in the current situation.”
According to The Guardian, Wandel appeared in court on Friday Facing his charges. She did not have any call. She will appear for a complete advocacy audience on April 7 and will remain in detention.
The point of sale reports that a second woman was also arrested alongside Wandel suspected of harassment. The 60 -year -old Welsh woman was released on bail.
On May 3, 2007, McCann left for a hotel room in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on vacation with her parents. Her parents dined with friends in a nearby tapas bar, leaving McCann and her two siblings asleep in their room when she disappeared.
His disappearance launched a cross-country investigation and led to international media frenzy.
For more than a decade, the Portuguese, English and German police have collaborated in an attempt to locate McCann and his kidnapper.
In June 2020, German police said McCann was supposed to be dead, but that the British authorities continue to deal with his disappearance as a case of a missing person.
& Copy 2025 Global News, A Division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
