🔗 Share this article

An accused stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was excluded after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.

Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish national flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and appeared at their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Investigation Details

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said thirteen individuals had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann 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 worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He declared: “Testing was conducted. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Jurors learned that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

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

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would not believe she isn't Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

Earlier in the trial, testimony revealed how the family were left scared and distressed by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the family visited.

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