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An accused stalker who claimed to be the abducted child 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, 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish citizen flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals 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 became known in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about contacting the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and difficult for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on stalking charges, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

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

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that during their conversation, Wandelt said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “It was possible she would never accept she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the McCanns were left scared and upset by their “creepy” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The court learned how both women made ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that they had eaten in.

Wandelt and Spragg both refute one count of stalking. The case remains active.