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A suspected stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was excluded after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.

Harassment Campaign Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The woman from Poland bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and appeared at their home requesting a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Investigation Details

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on the missing person’s case, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said 13 people had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA off an individual probably not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold major concerns about approaching the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing and difficult for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He stated: “Analysis occurred. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt in custody and informed her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would not believe she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, jurors learned how the relatives were left scared and distressed by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

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