Confidential DNA Test Confirmed Suspected Stalker Could Not Be Madeleine McCann, Reports Investigator
An accused stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a secret DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.
Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have conducted a pattern of threatening behavior against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.
The woman from Poland bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.
Official Statements
Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on Operation Grange, said he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.
DCI Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had in the past insisted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed 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 numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I sincerely hold major concerns about contacting the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”
DNA Comparison
He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than the missing girl. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.
He said: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”
Court Proceedings
Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective met with Wandelt while detained and informed her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
The court heard that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the detective 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 not believe she cannot be Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”
Family Impact
In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left terrified and distressed by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.
The jury were told how the defendants made “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.
The accused women both contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.