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An alleged stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was ruled out after a secret DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, authorities disclosed in court.

Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Police Testimony

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on Operation Grange, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had in the past insisted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA off an individual most likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious 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 aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been very traumatic and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He stated: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt in custody and informed her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would not believe she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the relatives were left frightened and upset by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.

The court learned how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

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