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A suspected stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is alleged to have conducted a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national flooded 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, jurors learned during proceedings.

Police Testimony

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had previously claimed 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 became known in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have 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.”

Genetic Testing

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than the missing girl. 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 declared: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt under arrest and informed her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt asked: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “It was possible she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, the court heard how the McCanns were left terrified and traumatized by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.

The court learned how the pair made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

Wandelt and Spragg both deny one count of stalking. The case remains active.