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An alleged stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of 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 woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and appeared at their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Police Testimony

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had in the past insisted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I intend 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.”

DNA Comparison

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 were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “Analysis occurred. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, the detective met with Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, jurors learned how the family were left terrified and upset by their “creepy” 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.

The jury were told how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Wandelt and Spragg both refute one count of stalking. The case remains active.