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An alleged stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a secret DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who vanished from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national 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 appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, said he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said 13 people had in the past insisted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

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

“I truly possess major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and challenging for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said investigators 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 discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “Analysis occurred. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Jurors learned that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

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

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have interfered with the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would never accept she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

During previous hearings, the court heard how the McCanns were left terrified and upset by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to insist on a DNA test.

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

The accused women both refute one count of stalking. The trial continues.