Confidential DNA Analysis Verified Suspected Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, Says Investigator

An alleged stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was excluded after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.

Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who vanished from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The woman from Poland bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, 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, the court was earlier informed.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said 13 people had previously claimed to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from a person quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about contacting the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance 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 criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “Testing was conducted. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Jurors learned that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt while detained and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she isn't Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the family were left scared and distressed by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.

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

Both defendants both contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.