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An alleged stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was ruled out after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Harassment Campaign Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The woman from Poland flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Police Testimony

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Operation Grange, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions 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 without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from a person probably 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 aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance and that she was not the same age than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He said: “Analysis occurred. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, Cranwell saw Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

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

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have manipulated the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would not believe she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

Earlier in the trial, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left terrified and upset by their “creepy” 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.

Jurors heard how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that they had eaten in.

Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.