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A suspected stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was eliminated after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, authorities disclosed in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who vanished from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home demanding a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said 13 people had previously claimed to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA off an individual quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried 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 intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance and that she was not the same age than the missing girl. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt under arrest and informed her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that while they spoke, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the relatives were left frightened and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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