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An alleged stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was excluded after a confidential DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national overwhelmed 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 turned up at their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Police Testimony

Testifying on Tuesday, the chief investigator on the missing person’s case, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann 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 someone most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about contacting the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been very traumatic and challenging for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

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

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt in custody and informed her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the samples 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 even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “It was possible she would not believe she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, jurors learned how the relatives were left terrified and upset by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.

The jury were told how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

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