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An accused stalker who asserted to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.

Harassment Campaign Against 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 at the age of three.

The woman from Poland bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and turned up at their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Investigation Details

Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on Operation Grange, said he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim 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 unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from someone 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 approaching the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing and hard for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt under arrest and informed her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, jurors learned how the relatives were left scared and traumatized by their “creepy” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The court learned how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Wandelt and Spragg both contest one count of stalking. The case remains active.