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A suspected stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was eliminated after a secret DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have conducted a pattern of threatening behavior against the relatives of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the lead detective on Operation Grange, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had in the past insisted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had a lot of people 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 built up their expectations. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and challenging for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity 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 “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He declared: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt while detained and informed her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt during the visit: “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 notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would never accept she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the family were left terrified and traumatized by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.

The court learned how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that they had eaten in.

The accused women both contest one count of stalking. The case remains active.