Covert DNA Test Verified Accused Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, States Investigator

A suspected stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was excluded after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The woman from Poland bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, said he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had in the past insisted 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 was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from someone quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I intend 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 learning Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

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

Jury Hearings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt in custody and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that while they spoke, Wandelt inquired: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “It was possible she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the McCanns were left scared and upset by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused 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 acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in 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.