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An alleged stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a confidential DNA test proved conclusively she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.

Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family

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

The Polish national 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 appeared at their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Police Testimony

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, said he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

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

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

“I genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said investigators 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 missing girl. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He declared: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

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

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

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the relatives were left frightened and traumatized by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to push for a DNA test.

The court learned how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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