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A suspected stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was eliminated after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not Madeleine McCann, investigators stated in court.

Harassment Campaign Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the family of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The woman from Poland flooded 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 requesting a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, said he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said 13 people had previously claimed 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 was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold major concerns about approaching the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and hard for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said authorities had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was not the same age than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He said: “Testing was conducted. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

Jurors learned that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, the court heard how the relatives were left frightened and upset by their “unnerving” 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 ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

The accused women both refute one count of stalking. The case remains active.