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A suspected stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was eliminated after a secret DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Official Statements

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had previously claimed to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from someone probably not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about approaching the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and hard for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He said: “Analysis occurred. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective saw Wandelt while detained and informed her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that during their conversation, Wandelt said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would not believe she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, jurors learned how the family were left terrified and traumatized by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made progressively odd plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

The accused women both refute one count of stalking. The trial continues.