🔗 Share this article

A suspected stalker who asserted to be Madeleine McCann was ruled out after a secret DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, investigators stated in court.

Targeted Behavior Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who disappeared 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 hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, stated he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct 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 did not want setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed 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 contacting the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been very traumatic and challenging for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after learning Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Court Proceedings

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

Testimony indicated that throughout their discussion, Wandelt asked: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would never accept she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

Earlier in the trial, the court heard how the McCanns were left terrified and distressed by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.

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

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