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An accused stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was ruled out after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, investigators stated in court.

Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Official Statements

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 conduct towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had in the past insisted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from someone probably 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 approaching the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been highly distressing and difficult for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than the missing girl. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He declared: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell saw Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

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

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would never accept she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

During previous hearings, the court heard how the relatives were left terrified and distressed by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to push for a DNA test.

The court learned how both women made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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