Woman who claimed to be Madeleine McCann reveals reasons she believed she was missing girl during trial
A woman who claimed to be the missing Madeleine McCann has detailed the reasons why she believed she was the missing Brit.
It was 18 years ago when three-year-old Madeleine went missing after last being seen at a holiday apartment complex in Praia da Luz, Portugal.
Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann had been out to dinner with friends in the complex, while Madeleine and her younger twin siblings stayed in the apartment, but when Kate went to check on the kids she discovered Madeleine had vanished.
The toddler's disappearance prompted a Europe-wide police investigation, which has still not been solved to this day.
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Julia Wandelt, who claimed to be Madeleine, was arrested in February 2025 for allegedly stalking the McCann family - a charge she denies.
On Monday (October 27), Wandelt has been facing questions at Leicester Crown Court in the UK on trial.
The 24-year-old, from Poland, explained how she first become aware of Madeleine in June 2022 when in hospital.
She discovered records for the missing girl by searching on missing persons databases, before joining Facebook groups 'dedicated to Madeleine McCann', Sky News reports.
"There were a lot of people talking about a lot of theories," Wandelt explained in court, before going on to say she found indicators on social media groups that made her think she was the missing girl.
Wandelt also said in court on Monday that she doesn't believe she is her parents' daughter.
Asked to explain her reasoning behind this, Wandelt said: "My mother has natural brown hair and brown eyes. My father has dark hair, now they are grey, but he had dark hair and brown eyes as well."
The court heard that Wandelt tried to get hold of her birth certificate and asked her parents 'many times'. However, they allegedly 'never wanted to provide me with it'.
Wandelt wanted it because she believe she was adopted - something her parents rebuffed.
On top of that, they also refused a DNA test 'many times', Wandelt claimed.
"It made me feel a bit surprised because I didn't expect them to refuse, especially because at that time I still dealt with a lot of emotional problems," she said in court.
A DNA test done earlier this year found Wandelt is not the missing Madeleine.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell explained in court on October 14: "It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann."
Topics: Madeleine McCann, UK News, World News, True crime, Social Media
Callum Jones