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An accused stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was ruled out after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.

Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a pattern of threatening behavior against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home insisting on a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Investigation Details

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on the missing person’s case, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I did not want 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 sincerely hold major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and hard for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was older by two years than the child. 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 stated: “Analysis occurred. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the samples 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 said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would never accept she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

Earlier in the trial, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left frightened and distressed by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice 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 obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

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