An accused stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a confidential DNA test definitively confirmed she was not Madeleine McCann, investigators stated in court.
Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing 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.
Police Testimony
Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Operation Grange, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.
DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.
“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from a person quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I truly possess major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been very traumatic and challenging for the family.”
DNA Comparison
He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than the missing girl. But, he said, after learning Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He stated: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”
Jury Hearings
Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Evidence showed that during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he answered: “Yes.”
He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would never accept she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Family Impact
Earlier in the trial, the court heard how the McCanns were left scared and traumatized by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.
The court learned how the pair made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.
The accused women both refute one count of stalking. The case remains active.
