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A suspected stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was eliminated after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the long-lost child, investigators stated in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from Praia da Luz 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 hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and turned up at their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Operation Grange, explained he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent 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 anxious I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold major concerns about contacting the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been very traumatic and challenging for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said the police had already judged 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 stalking charges, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside 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 officer told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “There was a possibility she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Family Impact

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

The court learned how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that they had eaten in.

Wandelt and Spragg both refute one count of stalking. The case remains active.