Covert DNA Test Proved Accused Stalker Could Not Be Madeleine McCann, States Detective

A suspected stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish national flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, explained he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her conduct 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 unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person 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 contacting the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and hard for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “Testing was conducted. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that while they spoke, Wandelt inquired: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she cannot be Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, jurors learned how the McCanns were left scared and traumatized by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to insist on a DNA test.

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

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