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An alleged stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was ruled out after a secret DNA test definitively confirmed she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.

Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The woman from Poland flooded 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 visited their home insisting on a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Official Statements

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on the missing person’s case, explained he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending 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 without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

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

“I genuinely have major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

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

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt in custody 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 during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, remarking: “It was possible she would not believe she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the McCanns were left terrified and distressed by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” 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 both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

The accused women both refute one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.