Secret DNA Analysis Verified Alleged Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, Reports Officer
An alleged stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was ruled out after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, authorities disclosed in court.
Harassment Campaign Towards McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.
The Polish citizen flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.
Police Testimony
Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, said he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.
DCI Mark Cramwell 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 got out in the media I had taken DNA off an individual probably not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I truly possess 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 highly distressing and challenging for the family.”
Forensic Analysis
He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He declared: “Testing was conducted. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”
Legal Testimony
The court heard that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”
He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would not believe she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”
Emotional Distress
In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the family were left terrified and traumatized by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.
The court learned how both women 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.
