Nearly two decades after three-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007, a Polish woman who spent years insisting she was the missing girl was forced to confront scientific proof that she was not. In October 2025, a senior British detective told a court that a DNA test ordered against normal procedure had “conclusively proved” Julia Wandelt was not Madeleine McCann.

Wandelt, then 24 and from Lubin in Poland, had contacted the McCann family and Operation Grange (the Metropolitan Police investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance) repeatedly since 2022. She bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their twin children, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of phone calls, text messages, voicemails and letters. She also travelled to the family’s home in Leicestershire and demanded a DNA comparison, insisting she was their long-lost daughter.

The court heard that Wandelt and her supporter, Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, had made increasingly bizarre plans to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA themselves. These included going through the family’s rubbish bins and taking cutlery from restaurants where the McCanns had eaten. The family described the contact as “creepy” and “deeply disturbing,” leaving them frightened and distressed.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, told Leicester Crown Court that police had already ruled Wandelt out because she did not resemble Madeleine and was two years older. Under normal policy, DNA would only be taken from someone they genuinely believed could be the missing girl, partly to avoid raising false hopes for the family and partly to prevent a flood of similar claims. Thirteen people had previously claimed to be Madeleine.

Despite this, Cranwell decided to authorise a DNA test after learning that Leicestershire police were about to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges. He said he acted “in the hope she may stop her behaviour towards the McCann family.” Samples were taken upon her arrest in February 2025. The comparison showed a clear mismatch. In April 2025, while Wandelt was in custody, Cranwell visited her and told her directly: “You are not Madeleine McCann.” Even then, officers believed she might refuse to accept the scientific result and claim the sample had been tampered with.

The five-week trial concluded on 7 November 2025. A jury found Wandelt guilty of harᴀssment against Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February 2025, but not guilty of the more serious charge of stalking. She was sentenced to six months in prison — a term she had already served while on remand. The court was told a deportation order had been served against her. Co-defendant Karen Spragg was cleared of all charges.

The case underlined the continuing emotional burden on the McCann family. Nearly 19 years after Madeleine disappeared, they still face people who claim to be their daughter and who refuse to accept evidence to the contrary. Police and the family have repeatedly stressed that the investigation remains open, but false claims of this kind cause real distress and divert resources.

Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/14/secret-dna-test-confirmed-alleged-stalker-was-not-madeleine-mccann-says-officer