🔗 Share this article Confidential DNA Examination Confirmed Accused Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, States Investigator A suspected stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was eliminated after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court. Harassment Campaign Towards McCann Family Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old. The Polish citizen bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard. Police Testimony Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, explained he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”. DCI Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent. “If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from someone probably not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had many persons 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 raised their hopes. It could have been very traumatic and difficult for the family.” Forensic Analysis He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than the child. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”. He declared: “Analysis occurred. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.” Jury Hearings The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell saw Wandelt in custody and informed her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.” Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he replied: “Yes.” He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would not believe she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.” Family Impact In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the family were left frightened and traumatized by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test. The jury were told how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at. Wandelt and Spragg both contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.