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An accused stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.

Harassment Campaign Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, faces charges for a pattern of threatening behavior against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish national bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home demanding a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Operation Grange, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann 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 from a person quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and challenging for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to no physical similarity and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “Analysis occurred. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have tampered with the sample”, remarking: “It was possible she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left terrified and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The jury were told how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that they had eaten in.

Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. The case remains active.