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A suspected stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was excluded after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a holiday destination 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 over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Official Statements

Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA off an individual probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on stalking charges, he “determined that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

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

Jury Hearings

The court heard that in April this year, the detective saw Wandelt while detained and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “There was a possibility she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the relatives were left scared and distressed by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to insist on a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

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