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An accused stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was ruled out after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, investigators stated in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a pattern of threatening behavior against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had earlier asserted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

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

“I sincerely hold major concerns about reaching out to 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.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than the missing girl. But, he said, after learning Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He stated: “Analysis occurred. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt in custody and stated to her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would refuse to acknowledge she cannot be Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, the court heard how the family were left scared and distressed by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the pair made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Wandelt and Spragg both contest one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.