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

Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The woman from Poland flooded 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 appeared at their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed 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 probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about contacting 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 hard for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that throughout their discussion, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he replied: “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 refuse to acknowledge she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left frightened and distressed by their “disturbing” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The jury were told how the defendants made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

The accused women both deny one count of stalking. The case remains active.