Covert DNA Analysis Proved Accused Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, States Investigator

An accused stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was excluded after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish citizen bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and turned up at their home demanding a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Official Statements

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had earlier asserted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA off an individual most likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had a lot of people 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 built up their expectations. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was older by two years than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Jury Hearings

The court heard that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt while detained and stated to 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.”

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

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

During previous hearings, the court heard how the relatives were left scared and distressed by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

The jury were told how both women made ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

The accused women both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.