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An alleged stalker who claimed to be the abducted child was eliminated after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Investigation Details

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer 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 became known in the media I had taken DNA from a person quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold major concerns about contacting the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been very traumatic and difficult for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “Analysis occurred. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective met with Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the family were left frightened and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The court learned how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

Both defendants both contest one count of stalking. The case remains active.