“I STILL DON’T KNOW WHO I AM…” — Julia Wandelt, the young woman who once claimed she might be Madeleine McCann, is reportedly still questioning her identity, even after months of global headlines and court appearances.
Leicester Crown Court has now heard fresh details as Wandelt faces allegations of contacting the McCann family — reigniting the internet’s fascination with her mysterious past.
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McCanns ‘stalker’ Julia Wandelt ‘still questions her identity after claiming she was Maddie’
Leicester Crown Court heard that Julia Wandelt, who is accused of stalking Madeleine McCann’s family, is still questioning her identity after claiming to be the missing girl
Julia Wandelt is accused of stalking the McCann family(Image: help-for-julia-wandelt/gogetfunding)
A woman who allegedly stalked the family of Madeleine McCann still questions her identity after claiming to be the missing Brit, a court heard.
Julia Wandelt, 24, from Lubin, Poland, allegedly repeatedly claimed to be missing Brit Madeleine, who disappeared while on holiday with her family in Portugal in 2007. Wandelt is on trial in the UK alongside Karen Spragg, 61, of Caerau, Cardiff, both of whom have been accused of stalking missing Maddie’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.
Leicester Crown Court heard it was Wandelt’s “genuine and honestly held belief” she was the missing Brit, and that a visit to a psychologist started her on a track that would later see her message Operation Grange investigators claiming: “I think I could be Madeleine McCann.”
Wandelt is on trial alongside Karen Spragg(Image: PA)
The trial heard Wandelt struggled with her mental health and self-harmed when growing up, and spent much of the period going in and out of therapy.
When asked by defence counsel Tom Price KC about one female therapist – who was not named – and whether she started “to question aspects” of her life after seeing her, Wandelt replied: “Yes.”
She added during further questions that the visit was “directly connected” to her questioning her identity, adding there was “nothing else in the story of what happened to me”. Wandelt said: “I started with asking questions because I just could not believe there was nothing else in the story of what happened to me.
Madeleine McCann(Image: PA)
“I started asking my parents about everything. What are your blood groups? Is there anything else [that] happened to me you don’t tell me about?”
The doubt about her identity led her to develop a “genuine and honestly held belief” she was Madeleine McCann, the court heard, which eventually led her to message Operation Grange investigators saying she thought she “could be” the missing girl.
Wandelt’s barrister Tom Price KC asked her if she still questions her identity. She replied: “Yes, I do.”
The full message to investigators sent on June 24, 2022, which was submitted to the court, read: “Hello I’m writing you because I think I could be Madeleine McCann, the reason why I think I could be Maddie.
Kate and Gerry McCann(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“One, I saw the pictures when I was younger, I had the mark on my eye, it’s a little faded now.” The court heard she went on to message Scotland Yard, Interpol, and the X-files team in Poland.
Wandelt and Spragg deny the charges of stalking between June 2022 and February 2025.
