Covert DNA Test Confirmed Suspected Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, States Officer
A suspected stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was excluded after a secret DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.
Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.
The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and visited their home demanding a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.
Official Statements
Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, explained he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior 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 without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.
“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA off an individual probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried 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 intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been very traumatic and challenging for the family.”
Forensic Analysis
He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance 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 harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He stated: “A comparison took place. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”
Legal Testimony
Jurors learned that in April this year, the detective saw Wandelt while detained and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Evidence showed that during their conversation, Wandelt asked: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he replied: “Yes.”
He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, remarking: “It was possible she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Family Impact
Earlier in the trial, the court heard how the family were left scared and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.
Jurors heard how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.
Wandelt and Spragg both deny one count of stalking. The case remains active.