Covert DNA Test Verified Accused Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, Reports Detective

An accused stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The woman from Poland bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and turned up at their home demanding a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Official Statements

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, stated he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior 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 only if convinced 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 quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold major concerns about reaching out to 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.”

Genetic Testing

He said the police had already judged 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 were going to take into custody Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt while detained and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that during their conversation, Wandelt said: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would not believe she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, the court heard how the family were left scared and distressed by their “disturbing” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

The jury were told how both women 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.

Wandelt and Spragg both refute one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.