🔗 Share this article Covert DNA Test Verified Alleged Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, Reports Investigator A suspected stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was eliminated after a secret DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court. Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three. The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings. Police Testimony Testifying 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 over a dozen persons had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent. “If it became known in the media I had taken DNA off an individual most likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’. “I genuinely have major concerns about contacting the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.” Forensic Analysis He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of a lack of resemblance and that she was not the same age than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”. He declared: “Analysis occurred. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.” Jury Hearings Jurors learned that in April this year, the detective saw Wandelt under arrest and informed her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.” Testimony indicated that during their conversation, Wandelt asked: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.” He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.” Psychological Toll Earlier in the trial, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left scared and distressed by their “creepy” 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. The court learned how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the McCanns dined at. The accused women both contest one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.