🔗 Share this article

A suspected stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.

Targeted Behavior Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish citizen bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Investigation Details

Testifying on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Operation Grange, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said over a dozen persons had previously claimed to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about contacting the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been highly distressing and difficult for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after learning Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He said: “Testing was conducted. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

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

Testimony indicated that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would never accept she isn't Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the family were left terrified and upset by their “disturbing” 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 the defendants made ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the family visited.

Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.