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An accused stalker who claimed to be the abducted child was eliminated after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Harassment Campaign Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a stalking campaign against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish citizen bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone 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.

Investigation Details

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

The senior officer said thirteen individuals had previously claimed to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from someone most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried 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 quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than the missing girl. But, he said, after learning Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on stalking charges, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

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

Court Proceedings

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

Evidence showed that during their conversation, Wandelt asked: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would never accept she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, jurors learned how the family were left scared and upset by their “creepy” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to insist on a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.