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An alleged stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was excluded after a confidential DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, investigators stated in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, faces charges for a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Police Testimony

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, explained he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had previously claimed 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 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 a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold major concerns about approaching the family to say I plan 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.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He declared: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that during their conversation, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would refuse to acknowledge she cannot be Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left frightened and distressed by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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