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A suspected stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, authorities disclosed in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

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

Police Testimony

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, stated he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from someone most likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess 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 highly distressing and difficult for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to 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 harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He declared: “Testing was conducted. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer saw 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 sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “There was a possibility she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the family were left scared and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to demand a DNA test.

The court learned 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 the McCanns dined at.

Wandelt and Spragg both contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.