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An alleged stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was eliminated after a confidential DNA test proved conclusively she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish national overwhelmed 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 visited their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Official Statements

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Operation Grange, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had earlier asserted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it got out 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 given them false hope. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, the detective saw Wandelt under arrest and informed her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, testimony revealed how the relatives were left scared and upset by their “creepy” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to insist on a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

Both defendants both refute one count of stalking. The case remains active.