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An alleged stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was excluded after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the long-lost child, investigators stated in court.

Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The woman from Poland flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, 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

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

The senior officer said thirteen individuals had previously claimed to be the abducted child 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 from a person probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been very traumatic and difficult for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said investigators had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of a lack of resemblance 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 stalking charges, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

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

Jury Hearings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective saw Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been matched against 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 inquired: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the McCanns were left scared and traumatized by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made ever more strange plans” to obtain 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.