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A suspected stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.

Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, 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, jurors learned during proceedings.

Investigation Details

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had earlier asserted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA off an individual 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 reaching out to the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been very traumatic and challenging for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Legal Testimony

Jurors learned that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

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

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

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the relatives were left frightened and upset by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The jury were told how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Both defendants both refute one count of stalking. The trial continues.