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An alleged stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a secret DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, authorities disclosed in court.

Targeted Behavior Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish citizen flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Official Statements

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from someone most likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold 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.”

Genetic Testing

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of dissimilar appearance and that she was older by two years than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “Analysis occurred. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt while detained and informed her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she isn't Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, jurors learned how the McCanns were left frightened and traumatized by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to demand a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that they had eaten in.

The accused women both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.