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An alleged stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Targeted Behavior Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish national flooded 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 visited their home demanding a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Police Testimony

Testifying on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending 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 without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from someone most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold 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 very traumatic and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Jury Hearings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, jurors learned how the relatives were left scared and distressed by their “disturbing” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

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