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

Harassment Campaign Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and turned up at their home demanding a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, explained he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said over a dozen persons had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA off an individual most likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had many persons 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 quite emotionally damaging and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after learning Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Jurors learned that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt while detained and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that while they spoke, Wandelt inquired: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, jurors learned how the McCanns were left frightened and distressed by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.

The jury were told how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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