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A suspected stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was eliminated after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Investigation Details

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said thirteen individuals had earlier asserted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

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

DNA Comparison

He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was not the same age 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 declared: “Analysis occurred. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that throughout their discussion, Wandelt asked: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would never accept she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the relatives were left terrified and distressed by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.

The jury were told how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

Wandelt and Spragg both contest one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.