Confidential DNA Examination Proved Accused Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, States Detective

An alleged stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was ruled out after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, faces charges for a pattern of threatening behavior against the relatives of Madeleine, who disappeared from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home insisting on a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Police Testimony

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA off an individual most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have 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 quite emotionally damaging and difficult for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on stalking charges, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

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

Jury Hearings

Jurors learned 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 genetic markers did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

During previous hearings, testimony revealed how the family were left frightened and distressed by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to demand a DNA test.

The jury were told how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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