🔗 Share this article

An accused stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, investigators stated in court.

Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The woman from Poland flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Investigation Details

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, explained he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

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

Genetic Testing

He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He declared: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt while detained and told her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that during their conversation, Wandelt said: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “It was possible she would not believe she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left terrified and traumatized by their “creepy” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to demand a DNA test.

The jury were told how both women made ever more strange plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Both defendants both refute one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.