An accused stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.
Harassment Campaign Towards McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.
The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and turned up at their home demanding a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.
Official Statements
Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.
The senior officer said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.
“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from someone probably 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 contacting the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been very traumatic and difficult for the family.”
Genetic Testing
He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He said: “Analysis occurred. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”
Legal Testimony
The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt under arrest and told 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 during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “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 never accept she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Psychological Toll
During previous hearings, jurors learned how the family were left frightened and traumatized by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.
The court learned how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.
Wandelt and Spragg both refute one count of stalking. The case remains active.
