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An alleged stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, investigators stated in court.

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Police Testimony

Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from someone most likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about contacting the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He said: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt while detained and informed her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that during their conversation, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would not believe she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Family Impact

During previous hearings, testimony revealed how the family were left scared and upset by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The court learned how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the family visited.

Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.