Confidential DNA Test Confirmed Accused Stalker Is Not Madeleine McCann, States Officer

A suspected stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was ruled out after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who vanished from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, 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, jurors learned during proceedings.

Investigation Details

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, said he had acted outside normal guidelines 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 earlier asserted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA off an individual probably not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “Testing was conducted. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

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

Testimony indicated that during their conversation, Wandelt asked: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the McCanns were left frightened and upset by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to demand a DNA test.

The court learned how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that they had eaten in.

Wandelt and Spragg both contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.