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A suspected stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was excluded after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, investigators stated in court.

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a pattern of threatening behavior against the family of Madeleine, who vanished from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and turned up at their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, said 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 in the past insisted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about contacting the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and difficult for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after learning Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

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

Court Proceedings

Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell 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 during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, remarking: “There existed a chance she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, the court heard how the relatives were left scared and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that they had eaten in.

Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.