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A suspected stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish citizen flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and turned up at their home requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Operation Grange, said he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had in the past insisted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid 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 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 intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was older by two years than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He stated: “Testing was conducted. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the family were left frightened and distressed by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.

The accused women both deny one count of stalking. The case remains active.