Covert DNA Analysis Verified Suspected Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, Says Officer
An accused stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was ruled out after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.
Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.
The woman from Poland overwhelmed 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 insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.
Official Statements
Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on the missing person’s case, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.
The senior officer said thirteen individuals had in the past insisted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.
“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA off an individual probably not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”
Forensic Analysis
He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.
He declared: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”
Jury Hearings
The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Testimony indicated that while they spoke, Wandelt inquired: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he replied: “Yes.”
He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”
Psychological Toll
During previous hearings, the court heard how the relatives were left terrified and upset by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to insist on a DNA test.
Jurors heard how both women made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.
The accused women both contest one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.