🔗 Share this article Confidential DNA Examination Verified Accused Stalker Is Not Madeleine McCann, Says Officer An alleged stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court. Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old. The Polish citizen bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed. Investigation Details Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Operation Grange, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”. The senior officer said over a dozen persons had previously claimed to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent. “If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from a person quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious 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 aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.” Genetic Testing He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”. He stated: “A comparison took place. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.” Legal Testimony Jurors learned that in April this year, the detective met with Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.” The court heard that during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he responded: “Yes.” He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have manipulated the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would refuse to acknowledge she cannot be Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.” Psychological Toll In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left scared and distressed by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to push for a DNA test. Jurors heard how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the family visited. The accused women both refute one count of stalking. The case remains active.