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A suspected stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was ruled out after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.

Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Official Statements

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said 13 people had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from a person probably 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 plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of dissimilar appearance and that she was older by two years than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “Analysis occurred. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt while detained and informed her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “It was possible she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

During previous hearings, testimony revealed how the relatives were left scared and upset by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.

The court learned how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that they had eaten in.

Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.