An alleged stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, authorities disclosed in court.
Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.
The Polish citizen bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, 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, Leicester crown court previously heard.
Investigation Details
Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, explained he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.
“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from someone quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I truly possess major concerns about reaching out to 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 challenging for the family.”
Genetic Testing
He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He declared: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”
Jury Hearings
Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Testimony indicated that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he replied: “Yes.”
He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would never accept she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Emotional Distress
During previous hearings, the court heard how the McCanns were left scared and upset by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.
The court learned how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.
Wandelt and Spragg both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.
