An alleged stalker who asserted to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.
Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.
The woman from Poland flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and visited their home insisting on a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.
Official Statements
Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, said he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had in the past insisted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.
“If it was revealed 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 genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been very traumatic and difficult for the family.”
DNA Comparison
He said investigators had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than Madeleine. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.
He stated: “Testing was conducted. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”
Legal Testimony
Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
The court heard that throughout their discussion, Wandelt said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”
He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “There was a possibility she would refuse to acknowledge she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Emotional Distress
During previous hearings, jurors learned how the relatives were left scared and upset by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant 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 going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.
The accused women both refute one count of stalking. The case remains active.
