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Bombshell DNA Test Results For Woman Claiming She’s Madeleine McCann Revealed
The bombshell DNA results for the woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann have been revealed.
A dramatic court case unfolding at Leicester Crown Court has captured international attention as prosecutors detail an alleged three-year campaign of harassment against Kate and Gerry McCann by a woman claiming to be their missing daughter.
Julia Wandelt, 24, stands trial alongside Karen Spragg, 61, accused of stalking Madeleine’s parents between June 2022 and February 2025.
Prosecutors allege Wandelt carried out a sustained campaign of phone calls, letters, and messages insisting she was the McCanns’ daughter, even appearing at their Rothley home demanding DNA verification.
Spragg is accused of being a supporter who adopted and promoted these claims enthusiastically. Both defendants deny the charges.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, the senior investigating officer from Operation Grange – the Metropolitan Police investigation into Madeleine’s 2007 disappearance – faced an unprecedented dilemma.
Over a dozen individuals had come forward since 2021 claiming to be the missing child, but police policy strictly prohibited DNA testing unless investigators genuinely believed the person could be Madeleine.
The detective explained his reasoning to the court, per MailOnline: “Taking DNA was a last resort. My policy decision is we would not taken DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine. I did not want to set a precedent.”
His concerns were twofold, protecting the McCann family from repeated emotional trauma and preventing a flood of copycat claims once word spread that police were conducting tests.
Wandelt’s case proved different. By early 2025, DCI Cranwell determined her conduct had crossed the threshold into harassment.
She had escalated from contacting the parents to reaching out to Madeleine’s siblings. The decision weighed heavily on him, as conducting the test violated established protocols.
“It weighed heavily on my mind because this was against policy and procedure,” Cranwell testified.
He worried Wandelt might reject the findings or accuse authorities of tampering with samples.
There was genuine concern that even scientific proof might not convince her.
The detective’s initial assessment, based on age, physical features, and crucially, eye pigmentation, had already ruled Wandelt out.
Madeleine has a distinctive coloboma, a small blemish in the iris of her right eye, per the Cleveland Clinic.
While Wandelt claimed similar pigmentation, medical experts confirmed it appeared in a different location, and the iris color differed. Colobomas cannot fade or migrate over time.
When officers showed the McCanns photographs of Wandelt in February 2023, they too were satisfied this was not their daughter.
Yet the alleged harassment continued, intensifying until DCI Cranwell made what he called a ‘change of decision.’
In February 2025, Wandelt voluntarily provided a DNA sample following her arrest with Spragg at Bristol Airport.
DCI Cranwell strategically timed the collection to coincide with her detention, knowing authorities would have her in custody.
The sample was processed, and on April 1, 2025, DCI Cranwell and a colleague visited Wandelt at Peterborough prison to deliver the news in person.
He recounted telling her: “Your sample was submitted to the laboratory, and a profile was established for you. This has now been compared to the profile of Madeleine McCann, they do not match. You are not Madeleine McCann.”
According to testimony, Wandelt questioned him about a previous test she’d taken, which she claimed showed a nearly 70 percent genetic match to DNA from the Portuguese crime scene.
Cranwell declined to comment on work done by others. She also asked whether police genuinely wanted to find Madeleine, and both officers confirmed they did.
The detective reported that Wandelt’s initial reaction was one of relief.
Yet the court has heard voicemail messages where she told Kate McCann: “You are my mother, it’s science, no one can deny it,” and: “I am not a scammer, I am your daughter.”
When prosecutor Michael Duck KC asked what the DNA comparison revealed, DCI Cranwell’s response was unequivocal: “A comparison took place and it conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”
The bombshell revelation came after nearly three years of alleged harassment that prosecutors describe as a well-planned campaign.
Kate and Gerry McCann have both testified about the distress the situation caused their family.
Operation Grange, once a full-time operation with extensive resources, now operates with minimal staff.
DCI Cranwell works one day weekly on the case, with limited additional support.
The investigation maintains over 42,000 documents and continues cooperating with Portuguese and German authorities, including examining prime suspect Christian Brückner, who denies involvement in the three-year-old’s 2007 disappearance from Praia da Luz.
The trial at Leicester Crown Court continues as the jury weighs the evidence against both defendants.
Related Article: Police Take New Madeleine McCann Lead ‘Seriously’ Amid Bombshell Evidence
Related Article: Madeleine McCann’s Parents Share Heartbreaking Update On 18th Anniversary Of Disappearance
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