Covert DNA Examination Proved Suspected Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, States Detective
An accused stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a confidential DNA test proved conclusively she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.
Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a pattern of threatening behavior against the family of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.
The woman from Poland flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.
Investigation Details
Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.
DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had in the past insisted to be the missing girl 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 off an individual 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 reaching out to the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and difficult for the family.”
DNA Comparison
He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on stalking charges, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He said: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”
Jury Hearings
Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective 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 while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Testimony indicated that throughout their discussion, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”
He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, stating: “It was possible she would never accept she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Psychological Toll
During previous hearings, the court heard how the relatives were left scared and upset by their “creepy” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to demand a DNA test.
The court learned how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.
The accused women both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.