🔗 Share this article

An accused stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.

Harassment Campaign Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Investigation Details

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had earlier asserted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed 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 most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about reaching out to 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 challenging for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity 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 “made the decision that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He said: “A comparison took place. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, the detective saw Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt inquired: “Do you truly desire 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 manipulated the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would never accept she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the family were left frightened and upset by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The court learned how the pair made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that they had eaten in.

The accused women both contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.