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A suspected stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was excluded after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, authorities disclosed in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish citizen flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and appeared at their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Police Testimony

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had in the past insisted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA off an individual quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about approaching the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

The court heard that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to 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 said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, the court heard how the family were left scared and distressed by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.

The jury were told how the defendants made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

The accused women both contest one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.