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An accused stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was ruled out after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, authorities disclosed in court.

Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a stalking campaign against the parents of Madeleine, who disappeared from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and turned up at their home demanding a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Official Statements

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, stated he had acted outside normal guidelines 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 Madeleine McCann 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 off an individual quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned 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 raised their hopes. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He declared: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt while detained and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “There was a possibility she would refuse to acknowledge she isn't Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the family were left scared and upset by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.

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

Both defendants both contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.