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An accused stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was excluded after a secret DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the parents 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 countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Official Statements

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had previously claimed to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been very traumatic and challenging for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than the missing girl. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “Analysis occurred. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, Cranwell 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 court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “It was possible she would refuse to acknowledge she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the relatives were left frightened and upset by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to demand a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made progressively odd plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

Wandelt and Spragg both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.