Covert DNA Test Confirmed Suspected Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, Says Investigator
An alleged stalker who claimed to be the abducted child was excluded after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.
Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.
The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, 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, jurors learned during proceedings.
Official Statements
Giving evidence 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 behavior towards the McCann family”.
The senior officer said thirteen individuals had previously claimed to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.
“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA off an individual probably not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had numerous individuals 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 built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and hard for the family.”
Forensic Analysis
He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He stated: “A comparison took place. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”
Court Proceedings
Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective saw Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”
He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”
Emotional Distress
In prior court sessions, the court heard how the family were left terrified and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to insist on a DNA test.
Jurors heard how the pair made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.
Wandelt and Spragg both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.
