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

Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish national bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, 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, the court was earlier informed.

Investigation Details

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, explained he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending 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 abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from someone quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about reaching out to 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 challenging for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of dissimilar appearance and that she was older by two years than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He stated: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

Jurors learned that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt in custody and stated to her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that throughout their discussion, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

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

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the McCanns were left frightened and distressed by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the pair made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

The accused women both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.