Secret DNA Examination Proved Suspected Stalker Is Not Madeleine McCann, Reports Investigator

A suspected stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a confidential DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish national flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, 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 demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Police Testimony

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Operation Grange, said he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her conduct 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 without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from someone probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing 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 missing girl. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He said: “Analysis occurred. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

The court heard that in April this year, the detective saw Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that throughout their discussion, Wandelt asked: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, the court heard how the relatives were left frightened and traumatized by their “unnerving” 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 pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

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