Secret DNA Analysis Confirmed Accused Stalker Is Not Madeleine McCann, Says Detective

An accused stalker who claimed to be the abducted child was excluded after a secret DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, investigators stated in court.

Harassment Campaign Towards McCann Family

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

The Polish national overwhelmed 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 demanding a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Official Statements

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, said he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had in the past insisted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from someone most likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

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

DNA Comparison

He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than the child. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He stated: “Testing was conducted. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the family were left terrified and traumatized 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.

Jurors heard how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Both defendants both contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.