Secret DNA Examination Verified Suspected Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, States Investigator

A suspected stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was ruled out after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.

Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment 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 turned up at their home requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann 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 probably 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 approaching the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been very traumatic and difficult for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He declared: “Analysis occurred. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the McCanns were left scared and distressed by their “disturbing” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.

The court learned how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Wandelt and Spragg both contest one count of stalking. The case remains active.