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

Harassment Campaign Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish national bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home demanding a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Official Statements

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, explained he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said over a dozen persons had previously claimed to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from someone probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold major concerns about contacting the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “A comparison took place. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have interfered with the sample”, remarking: “There existed a chance she would not believe she isn't Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the McCanns were left terrified and distressed by their “disturbing” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.

The jury were told how both women made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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