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An alleged stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a confidential DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.

Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish national flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and appeared at their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Police Testimony

Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on Operation Grange, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had in the past insisted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person probably 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 plan 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 authorities had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was older by two years than the missing girl. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges, he “determined that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He said: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

Jurors learned that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt in custody and stated to her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that during their conversation, Wandelt said: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would not believe she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left terrified and upset by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The jury were told how the defendants made “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Wandelt and Spragg both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.