She claims “new” DNA results prove she is related to Gerry McCann

An image collage containing 3 images, Image 1 shows Julie Wendelt at the 17th anniversary vigil for Madeleine McCann, Image 2 shows Photo of Madeleine McCann, Image 3 shows Photo of a man and woman sitting side-by-sideCOPS have issued an update after a woman believed to be Madeline McCann was “arrested for stalking” parents Kate and Gerry.

Julia Wandelt, 23, from Poland, became an internet sensation in February 2023 after claiming to be the missing Maddie.

Undated handout file photo of Madeleine McCann. German prosecutors have said the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance will continue despite a man under investigation over the 2007 incident being acquitted of unrelated sexual offences. Christian Brueckner was cleared at a court in Brunswick of three charges of aggravated rape and two of sexual abuse of children. Issue date: Tuesday October 8, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story POLICE Portugal. Photo credit should read: PA/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
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Madeleine McCann went missing in Portugal in 2007Credit: PA

03/05/2024. Picture shows Julia Wendelt, a Polish woman who claimed she was Madeleine McCann in an internet post that became a global sensation last year. She travelled from Poland to attend a service held tonight in the Baptist Church, Rothley, Leics, to mark the 17th anniversary of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance. She had wanted to hand a letter to Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann, but they did not attend the service..Pic by Paul Tonge 07757 699788
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Julia Wandelt, from Poland, has been arrested on ‘suspicion of stalking involving serious alarm/distress’Credit: Paul Tonge

Kate McCann (L) and her husband Gerry McCann (R), parents of missing British youngster Madeleine McCann, talk to the press after delivering statements at the court house in their case against Portuguese police officer Goncalo Amaral, in Lisbon on July 8, 2014. The McCanns, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared in Portugal in 2007, are suing Goncalo Amaral for libel and had flown from England to Lisbon to deliver personal impact statements at the Palace of Justice. Madeleine disappeared from a bedroom of her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz a few days short of her fourth birthday as her parents dined with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant. AFP PHOTO / PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA (Photo credit should read PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images)
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Kate McCann and her husband Gerry McCann have refuted claims that Julia is their missing daughterCredit: AFP – Getty
After flying in from Wroclaw in Poland to meet her 60-year-old Cardiff-based pal around 8pm last night, the pair were seized.

Both women were arrested at Bristol Airport on “suspicion of stalking involving serious alarm/distress” and “remain in custody”.

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.”

Julia became an internet sensation after claiming to be the missing Maddie, in February 2023.

She created the Instagram handle @IAmMadeleineMcCann and shared “new” DNA results to show her relation to Gerry McCann.

This was despite previously showing she is 100 per cent Polish.

She claimed the results were submitted to a “world expert” who compared them to DNA found at the crime scene in 2007, when Madeleine disappeared in Praia de Luz, Portugal.

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

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She also claimed her “source” believes the evidence “strongly supports that Gerry McCann could be Julia’s biological father”.

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

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

Julia previously told the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, Marianna Spring, how she was sexually abused as a young child.

The Polish national said she first started believing she was Madeleine McCann after seeing resemblances between sketches of suspects and her abuser.

She claimed this led to her suffering from gaps in her memory which caused her to become suspicious about her upbringing after her parents dismissed questions on whether she was adopted.

Julia also said she was never shown photos of herself in her early years or a birth certificate.

However, her parents had quickly refuted this and provided evidence.

Madeleine McCann’s disappearance

MADELEINE McCann vanished on May 3, 2007 – and cops believe Brueckner could have been behind her disappearance.

Almost 17 years on, no one has been charged in connection. These are the key dates

May 3, 2007 – Kate McCann finds Madeleine missing at 10pm

May 14, 2007 – Property developer Robert Murat is named an “arguido” or formal suspect

August 31, 2007 – The McCanns launch libel action against Tal e Qual – a newspaper that claimed the couple killed Madeleine

September 7, 2007 – Kate and Gerry McCann are made “arguidos”

September 9, 2007– Madeleine’s parents return to England with their two-year-old twins

October 2, 2007– Lead detective Goncalo Amaral is taken off the case after criticising British police in a newspaper interview

July 21, 2009 – Portuguese police lift the “arguido” status of  both Robert Murat and the McCanns

May 12, 2011 – On Madeleine’s eighth birthday, Scotland Yard launches a review into the case

April 25, 2012 – Scotland Yard officers say they believe Madeleine McCann is still alive

July 4, 2013 – Two years into a review of the case, Scotland Yard launched its own investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance

October 24, 2013– Portuguese police reopen their case after new lines of inquiry are found

November 27, 2013 – Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe called for British and Portuguese police to work together

October 28, 2015 – Scotland Yard reduces the number of officers working on Madeleine’s disappearance

March 11, 2017  – The Home Office grants Operation Grange an extra £85,000 to continue from April until September

September 28, 2017 –  British police are granted £154,000 to keep the probe going until March 2018

November 2017 – Cops moved the search to Bulgaria

May 2018 – Another round of funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted

September 2018 – An extra six months of funding is requested from the Home Office

November 2018 – More funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted

November 2018 – UK police re-examine a theory Madeleine left the apartment to look for her parents

June 2019 – Another round of funding, believed to be £300,000 of government cash is granted

June 2019 – Portuguese police are probing a “new clue and suspect” after talks with British officers

June 2020 – New prime suspect revealed as a German paedo Christian Brueckner

April 2022 – Brueckner formally made an “arguido”

May 2023 – Police search remote Algarve reservoir Brueckner called his “little paradise”