Confidential DNA Examination Proved Suspected Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, States Officer
An alleged stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was excluded after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, authorities disclosed in court.
Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.
The Polish national bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.
Official Statements
Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.
The senior officer said 13 people 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 from a person probably not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I sincerely hold major concerns about approaching 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 difficult for the family.”
Forensic Analysis
He said authorities had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to no physical similarity and that she was two years older than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.
He stated: “Testing was conducted. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”
Court Proceedings
The court heard that in April this year, the detective met with Wandelt while detained and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
The court heard that throughout their discussion, Wandelt said: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he answered: “Yes.”
He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”
Psychological Toll
During previous hearings, testimony revealed how the relatives were left scared and upset by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to insist on a DNA test.
Jurors heard how both women made ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.
Both defendants both contest one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.
