🔗 Share this article

An accused stalker who claimed to be the abducted child was excluded after a confidential DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

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

The woman from Poland flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, 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.

Official Statements

Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector 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 aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

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

“I truly possess major concerns about approaching the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and challenging for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Legal Testimony

Jurors learned that in April this year, the detective met with Wandelt while detained and informed her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, testimony revealed how the relatives were left terrified and distressed by their “disturbing” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.

The jury were told how both women made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

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