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An accused stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.

Harassment Campaign Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who vanished from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The woman from Poland flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Police Testimony

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, explained he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said thirteen individuals had in the past insisted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I did not want 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 anxious I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about contacting 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 difficult for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

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

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned 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 detective told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “There was a possibility she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the family were left scared and upset by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

The jury were told how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

Wandelt and Spragg both contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.