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

Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who disappeared from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish national flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Testifying on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Operation Grange, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said 13 people had previously claimed to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA off an individual most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been very traumatic and difficult for the family.”

DNA Comparison

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

He declared: “Analysis occurred. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt under arrest and informed her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that throughout their discussion, Wandelt asked: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “There was a possibility she would refuse to acknowledge she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the family were left terrified and upset by their “disturbing” 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 pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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