Covert DNA Test Verified Suspected Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, States Detective

An accused stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have conducted a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish national bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and turned up at their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “in the hope 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 only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person probably not to be Madeleine, I was anxious 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 given them false hope. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He stated: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, Cranwell saw Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would not believe she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, jurors learned how the McCanns were left scared and distressed by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made progressively odd plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that they had eaten in.

The accused women both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.