Accused Stalker Asked: 'However What If I Might Be Madeleine?'

Courtroom sketch
Julia Wandelt - according to court testimony asserts she is missing Madeleine McCann - contest the charges

A female charged with harassing Kate McCann reportedly left her a voicemail message which asked: "what if I am Madeleine?"

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, who a jury heard has repeatedly declared she was the missing Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are on trial charged with stalking Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February 2025.

Madeleine McCann photo
Madeleine McCann's disappearance has not yet been resolved

On Monday, the tribunal heard phone records and data recovered from phones recorded Ms Wandelt consistently demanding Madeleine's mother for a biological test during that period.

Madeleine's vanishing in 2007 - as a three-year-old during a trip in Portugal - is one of the most covered investigations and remains unresolved.

'I Do Not Need Money'

A separate voicemail, played in court, recorded Ms Wandelt declaring: "I know I'm heavy and not pretty like Madeleine had been, but I believe what I feel."

While a separate message of Ms Wandelt's one-way conversations with Mrs McCann's answerphone expressed: "What if there is a tiny probability that I am Madeleine? Then what? Wouldn't that be important for you?"

"I don't want money, I have a living here in Poland, I simply desire to understand," she added.

The panel was informed that through emails, mobile messages and phone calls, Ms Wandelt demanded a genetic test, forwarded early photographs to her phone in a effort to display a likeness to Mrs McCann's disappeared daughter, and claimed to have "memories" from a childhood with the McCanns.

The investigator, an investigator with the police force who compiled the data, informed the court there "didn't appear to be any answers" from Mrs McCann.

Ms Wandelt also reached out to close associates of the McCanns, based on the communication logs.

On that date, Gerry McCann responded to a communication from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, stating she had "incorrect contact information."

On that occasion Ms Wandelt left a message on Mrs McCann's recording stating "I will persist and I will prove my position."

Court proceedings
Kate and Gerry McCann provided testimony to the court from behind a security measure on Wednesday

The court learned the co-defendant struck up a connection via internet with Ms Wandelt before accompanying her on a trip to the McCanns' home in that area in December 2024.

Phone records demonstrated Mrs Spragg had reached out via messaging service to Mrs McCann to express the press had depicted Ms Wandelt as "emotionally disturbed" but that she deserved to be taken seriously in the period preceding the appearance to that location, that area, in that winter.

The court heard message exchanges between the two accused, in November 2024, considering endeavoring to acquire Mrs McCann's genetic material from her bins or from cutlery at a dining venue.

"We must assert ourselves," Mrs Spragg informed Ms Wandelt.

On the occasion of the appearance to their home, the defendant dispatched a text which said: "We are positioned near the McCanns' residence with our headlights off resembling investigators. I desired to achieve this with another person I didn't imagine I would be doing that with the McCanns."

The case proceeds.

Bobby Johnson
Bobby Johnson

Elara Vance is a seasoned journalist with over a decade of experience covering global affairs and digital trends.