🔗 Share this article

An accused stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, investigators stated in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said thirteen individuals had previously claimed to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing and hard for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

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

Legal Testimony

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to 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 truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would refuse to acknowledge she isn't Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the McCanns were left scared and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

The court learned how both women made progressively odd plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

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