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A suspected stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a stalking campaign against the parents of Madeleine, who disappeared from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, 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

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her conduct 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 worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing and difficult for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to no physical similarity and that she was older by two years than the child. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He said: “Testing was conducted. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

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

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have manipulated the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, jurors learned how the family were left frightened and upset by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

The jury were told how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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