Polish woman claiming she is Madeleine McCann arrested moments after landing in UK
A 23-year-old Polish woman who went viral online after claiming to be missing child Madeleine McCann has been arrested after flying in to the UK.
According to MailOnline, Julia Wandelt had flown into Bristol from the Polish city of Wroclaw yesterday (19 February) and was reportedly planning on meeting a friend in Cardiff.
However Wandelt and her friend, who is said to be in her 60s, were arrested by police upon the Polish national's arrival into the country.
Leicestershire police has confirmed that two women were arrested after landing in Bristol, with a force spokesperson issuing the following statement to LADbible: "Last night (Wednesday 19 February) two women were arrested at Bristol Airport as part of an ongoing investigation.
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"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."
The spokesperson added that the two women are yet to be formally charged.
Leicestershire Police's statement comes after Wandelt's representative Surjit Singh Clair revealed the news of her arrest to MailOnline with the following statement: "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."
Wandelt became famous online in February 2023 after appearing on Instagram under the handle @IAmMadeleineMcCann.
Three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from her family's hotel apartment in Portugal's Praia da Luz region in 2007, with her story going on to become one of the most famous missing person's cases in modern history.
Numerous theories about what happened to the Leicestershire toddler have emerged over the years, however no concrete evidence has been found in regards to her disappearance.
After making the account Wandelt would go on to do a number of interviews regarding her claims to be missing Maddie, including an appearance on Dr Phil.
Wandelt also appeared on an episode of Break The Ice podcast to claim that she had similar scars to the missing child as well as memories about the abduction.
However a DNA test taken by the 23-year-old later revealed that she was in fact '100% Polish'.
Wandelt's legal representative and psychic medium, Dr. Fia Johansson, previously told Radar Online that Wandelt had undertaken a DNA test in 2023 and the results disproved any links between her and the McCann family.
"The results of this test showed that she is absolutely 100 percent from Poland," Dr Johansson said.
"She is a small percentage of Lithuanian and Russian, but the test results show she is Polish."
Wandelt later apologised to Kate and Gerry McCann in January 2024, stating that she 'never meant to hurt anyone'.
Topics: UK News, Madeleine McCann
Brenna Cooper