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An accused stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was excluded after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.

Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish national bombarded 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 requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Official Statements

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, explained he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had previously claimed to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from someone quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said authorities had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after learning Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt in custody and informed her that her DNA had been tested alongside 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.”

Testimony indicated that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would not believe she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

During previous hearings, the court heard how the family were left scared and upset by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The jury were told how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

Both defendants both refute one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.