🔗 Share this article

An alleged stalker who asserted to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish citizen flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on the missing person’s case, explained he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had previously claimed to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid 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 worried I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have 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 very traumatic and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of dissimilar appearance and that she was older by two years than the child. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He said: “Testing was conducted. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Jurors learned that in April this year, the detective saw Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would never accept she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, the court heard how the family were left frightened and distressed by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to push for a DNA test.

The jury were told how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

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