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An accused stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was ruled out after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, explained he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He declared: “Testing was conducted. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, remarking: “There existed a chance she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the relatives were left scared and upset by their “unnerving” 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.

Jurors heard how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

The accused women both refute one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.