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An alleged stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was excluded after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the parents of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and turned up at their home demanding a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Official Statements

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said thirteen individuals had in the past insisted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person quite likely 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 plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He stated: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, the detective met with Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would never accept she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

During previous hearings, jurors learned how the relatives were left terrified and distressed by their “creepy” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.

The court learned how both women made progressively odd plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the family visited.

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