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

Targeted Behavior Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The woman from Poland bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, 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.

Investigation Details

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

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had previously claimed to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA off an individual most likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned 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 plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and hard for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was older by two years than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

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

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the McCanns were left frightened and distressed by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to push for a DNA test.

The court learned how both women made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

Both defendants both contest one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.