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A suspected stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The woman from Poland flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Police Testimony

Providing testimony 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 behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had earlier asserted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely 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 plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

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

Jury Hearings

Jurors learned that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt in custody and informed her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she isn't Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

During previous hearings, the court heard how the McCanns were left frightened and traumatized by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to insist on a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

The accused women both refute one count of stalking. The case remains active.