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An alleged stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was excluded after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, 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 disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

DCI 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 wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about contacting the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said investigators 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 learning Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on stalking charges, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “Analysis occurred. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt while detained and told her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest 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 family were left scared and traumatized by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The jury were told how both women made progressively odd plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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