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

Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish citizen bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and turned up at their home requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Investigation Details

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had previously claimed to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA off an individual 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 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 highly distressing and difficult for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on stalking charges, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He declared: “Analysis occurred. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective saw Wandelt in custody and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt said: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “There was a possibility she would never accept she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, jurors learned how the relatives were left terrified and upset by their “disturbing” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to push for a DNA test.

The jury were told how both women made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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