[Ammi]

…I read this yesterday that this lady had claimed to be Madeleine but I didn’t realise that she was ‘stalking’ the parents…


A Polish woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann has been arrested moments after landing in the UK.

Julia Wandelt, 23, was held at Bristol Airport on suspicion of stalking Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann, her representative confirmed.

She flew in from Wroclaw, Poland and had been due to meet a friend when she was surrounded by officers in front of stunned jet passengers at around 8pm on Wednesday.

Her friend - who is thought to be in her 60s and from Cardiff - was also detained for allegedly aiding and abetting Wandelt.

Both arrests were carried out by the Avon and Somerset force on behalf of Leicestershire Police where the McCanns live.

Madeleine, from Rothley, was three when she went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia de Luz Portugal on May 3, 2007.

Wandelt’s representative Surjit Singh Clair told the Standard: “Her arrest came as a surprise.

“I’ve sent lawyers to lawyers to Bristol Airport and it is all in hand.

“She was arrested on suspicion of allegedly stalking the McCanns and her friend for aiding and abetting.”

Leicestershire Police said: “Last night two women were arrested at Bristol Airport as part of an ongoing investigation.

“A 23-year-old woman from Poland and a 60-year-old woman from Wales were arrested on suspicion of stalking involving serious alarm/distress.

“They both remain in custody and enquiries are continuing.”

MailOnline, which first reported Wandelt’s arrest, said she became an internet sensation in February 2023 after claiming to be the missing youngster on Instagram, with the Instagram handle @IAmMadeleineMcCann.

Despite previously publishing DNA test results which concluded she is 100 per cent Polish and therefore cannot be missing Madeleine, this week shared “new” DNA results alleging she is related to Mr McCann.

Wandelt claimed they were submitted to a “world expert” who compared them to forensics discovered at the crime scene.

She alleged experts also matched her eyes, teeth and voice with Madeleine.

Earlier this week, Wandelt shared an audio clip on her Instagram account in which she claims to have tried to speak with Mr McCann on the phone.

The man hung up on her a few seconds in to the call, saying she must have the wrong number.

Wandelt previously told the BBC how she was sexually abused as a young child and appeared on US talk show Dr Phil to discuss the far-fetched possibility she is Madeleine.

Prosecutors are continuing investigations into convicted sex child offender Christian Brueckner over Madeleine’s disappearance and murder.

Brueckner, 47, who denies any involvement, has not been charged in the McCann case.

He is already serving a seven-year prison term in Germany for raping a woman in 2005 in the part of Portugal’s Algarve region where she went missing.

[Vanessa]

They've already done a DNA test and it's not her.

[arista]

[Julia Wandelt, 23, became
an internet sensation in February 2023 after
posting under the account name
'@IAmMadeleineMcCann' claiming
to be the missing daughter of Kate
and Gerry McCann.

Wandelt's representative, Surjit Singh Clair,
confirmed news of the arrest to
LBC saying: "I'm trying to find out what's
happened but it appears Julia has been
arrested at Bristol Airport this evening just
after she got off the plane.

"The police have reportedly arrested
her on an allegation of stalking and
harassing the McCanns."]


https://www.lbc.co.uk/madeleine-mcca...st-airport-uk/

[Crimson Dynamo]

Its kate I feel sorry for

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Crimson Dynamo

Its kate I feel sorry for

"Sorry for"

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Vanessa

They've already done a DNA test and it's not her.

…an article said that the McCann’s refused to provide any DNA for testing, not that I think it is Madeleine but obviously ‘information may vary’ as they say……

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…an article said that the McCann’s refused to provide any DNA for testing, not that I think it is Madeleine but obviously ‘information may vary’ as they say……

I don't think she looks anything like her but unless there was no way at all she could be her you'd think they'd get a test done just on the off chance........

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I don't think she looks anything like her but unless there was no way at all she could be her you'd think they'd get a test done just on the off chance........

…I’m just re-reading the article now and this is a quote…

‘She discussed her claims on Dr. Phil and underwent several DNA tests to prove them.
However, the test results at the time confirmed that she was Polish, with some Lithuanian and Romanian roots. This ruled out any possibility of her being born to British parents Kate and Gerry.
Both the McCanns as well as Julia’s Polish parents refused to provide their DNA for a comparison.’

…so because heritage can be shown with DNA so I guess that would cover the ‘no chance at all…’…I don’t know if they’d already refused before anything was known, though…

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…I’m just re-reading the article now and this is a quote…

‘She discussed her claims on Dr. Phil and underwent several DNA tests to prove them.
However, the test results at the time confirmed that she was Polish, with some Lithuanian and Romanian roots. This ruled out any possibility of her being born to British parents Kate and Gerry.
Both the McCanns as well as Julia’s Polish parents refused to provide their DNA for a comparison.’

…so because heritage can be shown with DNA so I guess that would cover the ‘no chance at all…’…I don’t know if they’d already refused before anything was known, though…

Fair enough, she does have that typical Polish/Eastern European look about her although in this instance you'd have to wonder why her parents wouldn't do the sample just to stop the claims because her being Madeline McCann would make them guilty of something

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by arista

[Julia Wandelt, 23, became
an internet sensation in February 2023 after
posting under the account name
'@IAmMadeleineMcCann' claiming
to be the missing daughter of Kate
and Gerry McCann.

Wandelt's representative, Surjit Singh Clair,
confirmed news of the arrest to
LBC saying: "I'm trying to find out what's
happened but it appears Julia has been
arrested at Bristol Airport this evening just
after she got off the plane.

"The police have reportedly arrested
her on an allegation of stalking and
harassing the McCanns."]


https://www.lbc.co.uk/madeleine-mcca...st-airport-uk/

…another photo of her…

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Fair enough, she does have that typical Polish/Eastern European look about her although in this instance you'd have to wonder why her parents wouldn't do the sample just to stop the claims because her being Madeline McCann would make them guilty of something

I was going to say, I don't think they needed the DNA test even, her features are VERY Eastern European.

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Fair enough, she does have that typical Polish/Eastern European look about her although in this instance you'd have to wonder why her parents wouldn't do the sample just to stop the claims because her being Madeline McCann would make them guilty of something

…it’s confusing tbh because it does go on to say that there were new DNA tests done recently that linked her to Gerry, which were apparently posted online…I haven’t seen anything posted in that vein, though…

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Quantum Boy

I was going to say, I don't think they needed the DNA test even, her features are VERY Eastern European.

….the two pics of her in the thread are so different, I have to say…neither resemble Madeleine in any way but they also don’t resemble the same person very much either…

[user104658]

To have some compassion for the girl though: from what I've read I think she may well genuinely believe it to be true. I don't think it IS true, but I think she's got stuck on the idea and can't let it go. Probably some sort of trauma; or maybe some unpleasant individual even deliberately convinced her it was true.

It reminds me of the episode of Catfish where the guy thought he had been in an online relationship for months with Katy Perry... and no matter how much evidence they provided to him that he had not, in fact, been talking to Katy Perry... he still wouldn't fully believe it.

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Quantum Boy

To have some compassion for the girl though: from what I've read I think she may well genuinely believe it to be true. I don't think it IS true, but I think she's got stuck on the idea and can't let it go. Probably some sort of trauma; or maybe some unpleasant individual even deliberately convinced her it was true.

It reminds me of the episode of Catfish where the guy thought he had been in an online relationship for months with Katy Perry... and no matter how much evidence they provided to him that he had not, in fact, been talking to Katy Perry... he still wouldn't fully believe it.

…I miss Catfish, I’m not sure if it still airs with any new ones …there were some very weird/scary ones but some of them had a happy ending and even with deception involved, went on to be lovely stories…

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…I miss Catfish, I’m not sure if it still airs with any new ones …there were some very weird/scary ones but some of them had a happy ending and even with deception involved, went on to be lovely stories…

It's still running but its' golden days ended when Max left... it was really the Nev and Max duo that made it good, and especially the early days when it was still an "unknown show" so the stories were more real. It got too big and it started to feel like a lot of the people applying had ulterior motives/were in cahoots (for social media fame tbh).

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Quantum Boy

I was going to say, I don't think they needed the DNA test even, her features are VERY Eastern European.

exactly what I thought when I looked at her face

[Vanessa]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…an article said that the McCann’s refused to provide any DNA for testing, not that I think it is Madeleine but obviously ‘information may vary’ as they say……

Mmm id love it to be her, but I'm skeptical.

[Vanessa]

Originally Posted by Quantum Boy

To have some compassion for the girl though: from what I've read I think she may well genuinely believe it to be true. I don't think it IS true, but I think she's got stuck on the idea and can't let it go. Probably some sort of trauma; or maybe some unpleasant individual even deliberately convinced her it was true.

It reminds me of the episode of Catfish where the guy thought he had been in an online relationship for months with Katy Perry... and no matter how much evidence they provided to him that he had not, in fact, been talking to Katy Perry... he still wouldn't fully believe it.

She may think she is, but she looks polish to me?

[Niamh.]

Also do her parents not have pictures of her when she was Madeleine's age or younger, wouldn't that sort this out?

[Kate!]

She's not got Madeleine's eyes

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Kate!

She's not got Madeleine's eyes

Her lips are way too full as well, Madeleine had very narrow lips

[Ammi]

…I do agree with Quantum and feel that she possibly does genuinely believe that she is Madeleine and that there is t any purposeful deception involved …she’s apparently had death threats and such is the internet that someone who may have a poor mental health would get death threats….i hope that she gets some help in accepting that she isn’t Madeleine but I don’t have very much faith in these support services that there is still very much in need of…

[Redway]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Her lips are way too full as well, Madeleine had very narrow lips

Very narrow indeed.

[bots]

it would be amazing if there were a dna match