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A suspected stalker who claimed to be the abducted child was eliminated after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish citizen overwhelmed 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 demanding a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

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

DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA off an individual probably 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 contacting the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and difficult for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would not believe she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, jurors learned how the relatives were left terrified and upset by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The court learned how both women made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

The accused women both contest one count of stalking. The case remains active.