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An accused stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was excluded after a secret DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.

Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, 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 as a three-year-old.

The Polish national overwhelmed 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 visited their home requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had in the past insisted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I did not want 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 concerned I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I intend 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.”

DNA Comparison

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after learning Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He declared: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

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

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have manipulated the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would not believe she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Family Impact

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

The court learned how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the family visited.

The accused women both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.