A trial in Leicester is unfolding over strange, persistent claims that have haunted one of Britain’s best-known missing-child cases.
The McCann family, long accustomed to renewed leads and rumors, now faces a legal and scientific conclusion aimed at ending one of the most contested assertions to date.
Julia Wandelt, a 24-year-old Polish woman, has publicly insisted she is Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in 2007 at age three.
Her assertions escalated into alleged stalking: phone messages, unexpected visits, and demands for answers from Kate and Gerry McCann.
In February 2025, Wandelt was arrested on suspicion of stalking and harassment.
With her arrest came a critical development, a DNA sample was taken for comparison to Madeleine’s known genetic profile.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell addressed the decision in court.
He said he would not take DNA from someone unless there was a serious belief they might be Madeleine, but in this specific instance he judged it warranted.
“It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”
The court heard how police initially ruled Wandelt unlikely to be Madeleine, citing her age and lack of resemblance.
But Cranwell admitted he felt weighed by the possibility of setting precedent if the case was ignored.
Wandelt learned of the DNA result in April, while in custody, and later disputed it.
She had earlier insisted her own tests shared on social media, showed a 69.23 percent match to hair and saliva samples allegedly from Madeleine’s case.
Meanwhile, the McCann family was dragged back into distress. Kate McCann described letters signed “Madeleine x” and messages referring to her as “Mum” as deeply unsettling.
Their younger daughter, Amelie, was also drawn into the exchanges, receiving repeated outreach from Wandelt.
Other accusations emerged. Prosecutors claim that Wandelt and an accomplice, 61-year-old Karen Spragg, tried to harvest DNA from the McCanns by retrieving items from bins and restaurants.
Both defendants deny all stalking charges. At the heart of today’s headlines, the court heard this definitive statement:
“The DNA test conclusively ruled out Wandelt as Madeleine McCann.“
This scientific result, once kept under wraps, delivers the central verdict many speculated but few would accept without proof.
Now the trial continues, but that revelation reshapes the landscape. For the McCanns, it offers at least one measure of closure against one persistent claim.
For Wandelt, it demands accountability in court. And for the public, it reaffirms that even in the most haunting mysteries, genetic fact can deliver the final word.
Featured Image Credit: iheart/ABC News)
