Secret DNA Test Confirmed Accused Stalker Is Not Madeleine McCann, Reports Officer

An accused stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was excluded after a secret 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 pattern of threatening behavior against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The woman from Poland bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and turned up at their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, explained he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said over a dozen persons 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 was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from someone quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and hard for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of dissimilar appearance and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

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

Legal Testimony

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that throughout their discussion, Wandelt asked: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have manipulated the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would not believe she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the McCanns were left terrified and distressed by their “disturbing” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

The court learned how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

The accused women both refute one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.