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An alleged stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.

Stalking Allegations 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 as a three-year-old.

The Polish national flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, 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

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said thirteen individuals had previously claimed to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced 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 concerned I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold 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 highly distressing and difficult for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of a lack of resemblance and that she was not the same age than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

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

Jury Hearings

Jurors learned that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt while detained and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would never accept she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the McCanns were left scared and upset by their “disturbing” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.

The jury were told how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the family visited.

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