A woman, who previously claimed to be Madeleine McCann, has been charged with stalking the missing child’s family.
Julia Wandel, 23, also known as Julia Wandelt, from Poland, was arrested at Bristol Airport on Wednesday, Leicestershire Police said.
She is accused of stalking causing serious alarm or distress against Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann between 2 May last year and 15 February this year.
Wandel allegedly turned up at their home and sent letters, calls, voicemails and WhatsApp messages, which amounted to stalking, court documents show.
She is also accused of stalking Madeleine’s sister Amelie between 3 January 3 and 21 April 2024, and her brother Sean between 27 November and 29 December 2024.
She appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Friday and has been remanded in custody.
A 60-year-old woman from Wales, who was also arrested on suspicion of stalking, has been released on bail, the force added.
Madeleine’s disappearance has become the world’s most mysterious missing child cases. Madeleine disappeared in Portugal’s Algarve back in 2007 while on holiday with her family.
Read more: How the disappearance of Madeleine McCann unfolded
Her parents had left their daughter in bed with her twin siblings while they had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant in Praia da Luz when the then three-year-old disappeared on 3 May.
The couple, from Leicestershire, have criticised Portuguese authorities for their investigation into her abduction.
The man suspected of kidnapping her will not face any charges in the foreseeable future, a prosecutor told Sky News earlier this year.