🔗 Share this article Confidential DNA Analysis Verified Suspected Stalker Could Not Be Madeleine McCann, States Detective An accused stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was eliminated after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court. Harassment Campaign Against McCann Family Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 when she was three. The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed. Police Testimony Testifying on Tuesday, the chief investigator on the missing person’s case, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent. “If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from someone quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had numerous individuals 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 built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and challenging 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 not the same age than the missing girl. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”. He declared: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.” Court Proceedings Proceedings revealed that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt under arrest and informed 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.” The court heard that during their conversation, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he responded: “Yes.” He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, remarking: “It was possible she would never accept she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.” Emotional Distress Earlier in the trial, testimony revealed how the family were left terrified and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “extremely troubling” 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 “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that they had eaten in. Wandelt and Spragg both deny one count of stalking. The case remains active.