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A suspected stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The woman from Poland bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and appeared at their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Official Statements

Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on Operation Grange, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending 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 without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

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

“I truly possess 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 quite emotionally damaging and challenging for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to no physical similarity and that she was older by two years than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

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

Legal Testimony

Jurors learned that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she cannot be Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, the court heard how the relatives were left scared and upset by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to demand a DNA test.

The jury were told how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that they had eaten in.

The accused women both contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.