🔗 Share this article

A woman charged with harassing Kate McCann reportedly recorded her a recorded message which asked: "suppose I am Madeleine?"

The defendant, 24, who a jury heard has repeatedly asserted she was the disappeared Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are on trial charged with stalking Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February this year.

On Monday, Leicester Crown Court learned phone records and evidence recovered from phones documented Ms Wandelt consistently requesting Madeleine's mother for a genetic test during that period.

Madeleine's disappearance in 2007 - at the age of three during a family holiday in Portugal - is among the most publicized investigations and is still unresolved.

'I Am Not Seeking Money'

One phone message, shared in court, recorded Ms Wandelt saying: "I understand I'm heavy and not pretty like Madeleine was, but I know what I know."

While one recording of Ms Wandelt's one-way conversations with Mrs McCann's answerphone said: "What if there is a slight possibility that I am Madeleine? What then? Wouldn't that be crucial for you?"

"I don't want money, I maintain a living here in Poland, I just want to know," the message continued.

The tribunal was informed that by means of electronic messages, SMS messages and phone calls, Ms Wandelt demanded a genetic test, forwarded childhood photos to her phone in a effort to show a likeness to Mrs McCann's vanished daughter, and claimed to have "recollections" from a youth with the McCanns.

Robert Jones, a data specialist with the police force who collated the data, advised the court there "didn't appear to be any replies" from Mrs McCann.

Ms Wandelt also reached out to acquaintances of the McCanns, according to the call data.

On October 9th, 2024, Mr McCann picked up a communication from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, declaring she had "the wrong phone."

During that incident Ms Wandelt recorded a recording on Mrs McCann's voicemail stating "I won't give up and I plan to establish my point."

The court heard Mrs Spragg struck up a connection through digital means with Ms Wandelt before joining her on a trip to the McCanns' property in Leicestershire in that winter.

Phone records showed Mrs Spragg had communicated via messaging service to Mrs McCann to say the media had characterized Ms Wandelt as "emotionally disturbed" but that she deserved to be taken seriously in the time preceding the trip to that location, Leicestershire, in last December.

The court heard correspondence between the two defendants, in November 2024, discussing endeavoring to obtain Mrs McCann's biological evidence from her trash or from cutlery at a dining venue.

"We need to assert ourselves," the co-defendant informed Ms Wandelt.

On the occasion of the visit to their home, the defendant sent a communication which expressed: "We find ourselves positioned adjacent to the McCanns' house with our headlights off resembling detectives. I desired to accomplish this with someone else I never thought I would be doing that with the McCanns."

The trial continues.