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An accused stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was excluded after a secret DNA test definitively confirmed she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.

Harassment Campaign Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish citizen flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and appeared at their home demanding a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Official Statements

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had earlier asserted to be the missing girl 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 probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and difficult for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance 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 harassment allegations, he “decided 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

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

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

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the McCanns were left scared and upset by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

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