🔗 Share this article Secret DNA Analysis Proved Alleged Stalker Could Not Be Madeleine McCann, Reports Detective An alleged stalker who claimed to be the abducted child was eliminated after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not the long-lost child, investigators stated in court. Harassment Campaign Towards McCann Family Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three. The Polish citizen bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed. Official Statements Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending 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 only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid 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 many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’. “I truly possess 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 challenging for the family.” DNA Comparison He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”. He stated: “Testing was conducted. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.” Legal Testimony Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt in custody and informed her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.” The court heard that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.” He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would never accept she is not Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.” Psychological Toll During previous hearings, jurors learned how the family were left frightened and upset by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test. The jury were told how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited. Wandelt and Spragg both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.