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A suspected stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was eliminated after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish citizen flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Official Statements

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said 13 people had previously claimed to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from a person quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than Madeleine. 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 during detention”.

He stated: “Analysis occurred. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt cannot be 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 matched against Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want 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”, stating: “It was possible she would refuse to acknowledge she cannot be Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left frightened and upset by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.

The court learned how both women made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

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