Covert DNA Analysis Confirmed Alleged Stalker Is Not Madeleine McCann, States Officer

A suspected stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was excluded after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Targeted Behavior Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a pattern of threatening behavior against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish national bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and appeared at their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Official Statements

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from someone most likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned 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 aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been highly distressing and difficult for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He said: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective met with Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that throughout their discussion, 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 “would suggest we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, jurors learned how the family were left frightened and traumatized by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

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

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