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An alleged stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was ruled out after a secret DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the parents of Madeleine, who vanished 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 numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and turned up at their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, explained he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had previously claimed to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely 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 intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He said: “A comparison took place. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “It was possible she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

Earlier in the trial, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left scared and upset by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the pair made ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

The accused women both refute one count of stalking. The trial continues.