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A suspected stalker who asserted to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a secret DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who disappeared from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

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

Official Statements

Testifying on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, said he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said over a dozen persons had in the past insisted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed 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 anxious I would have had a lot of people 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 quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

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

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “There existed a chance she would not believe she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, jurors learned how the McCanns were left frightened and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the defendants made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that they had eaten in.

Wandelt and Spragg both contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.