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An alleged stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not the long-lost child, investigators stated in court.

Targeted Behavior Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Official Statements

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, said he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said thirteen individuals had in the past insisted 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 was revealed in the media I had taken DNA off an individual 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 given them false hope. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would not believe she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

During previous hearings, jurors learned how the family were left scared and distressed by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

The court learned how the pair made progressively odd plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

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