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A suspected stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a pattern of threatening behavior against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and appeared at their home demanding a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, explained he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

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

“I genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He stated: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt under arrest and informed her that her DNA had been compared to 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 while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “There was a possibility she would not believe 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 distressed by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.

The jury were told how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the family visited.

Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. The case remains active.