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An alleged stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have conducted a pattern of threatening behavior against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Official Statements

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

The senior officer said over a dozen persons had in the past insisted to be the missing girl 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 off an individual 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 contacting the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said investigators had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “Testing was conducted. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that during their conversation, Wandelt asked: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would not believe she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Family Impact

During previous hearings, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left frightened and traumatized by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.

The court learned how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

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