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An accused stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was eliminated after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.

Harassment Campaign Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish citizen bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and visited their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on the missing person’s case, explained he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell 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 became known in the media I had taken DNA from someone quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned 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 intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been very traumatic and challenging for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than the child. But, he said, after learning Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

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

Legal Testimony

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

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

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the McCanns were left scared and distressed by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the pair made ever more strange plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the family visited.

Wandelt and Spragg both deny one count of stalking. The case remains active.