Suspected Stalker Inquired: 'Yet What If I Am Madeleine?'
A woman indicted with pursuing Kate McCann allegedly recorded her a voicemail message which posed: "imagine I am Madeleine?"
Julia Wandelt, 24, who a jury heard has persistently asserted she was the vanished Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are standing trial accused with stalking Kate and Gerry McCann from June 2022 and February 2025.
On Monday, the tribunal heard call records and data retrieved from phones recorded Ms Wandelt repeatedly asking Madeleine's mother for a biological test throughout 2023 and 2024.
Madeleine's vanishing in 2007 - at the age of three during a vacation in Portugal - is considered the most widely reported missing child cases and remains open.
'I Do Not Need Money'
A separate voicemail, shared in court, documented Ms Wandelt declaring: "I realize I'm overweight and not pretty like Madeleine was, but I feel what I believe."
While one recording of Ms Wandelt's monologues with Mrs McCann's voicemail said: "Imagine there is a small chance that I am Madeleine? What happens next? Isn't that crucial for you?"
"I am not seeking money, I maintain a living here in Poland, I only wish to discover," the message continued.
The panel was advised that by means of emails, mobile messages and calls, Ms Wandelt asked for a DNA test, forwarded early photographs to her phone in a attempt to display a similarity to Mrs McCann's vanished daughter, and asserted to have "recollections" from a early life with the McCanns.
Robert Jones, a data specialist with law enforcement who collated the information, advised the court there "showed no any responses" from Mrs McCann.
Ms Wandelt furthermore reached out to family friends of the McCanns, as per the phone records.
On that date, the father picked up a phone call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, saying she had "incorrect contact information."
During that incident Ms Wandelt recorded a message on Mrs McCann's answerphone declaring "I will persist and I plan to establish my position."
The court was informed Mrs Spragg developed a association via internet with Ms Wandelt before assisting her on a trip to the McCanns' property in the county in last December.
Call logs demonstrated Mrs Spragg had communicated via communication app to Mrs McCann to say the news outlets had depicted Ms Wandelt as "mentally unstable" but that she ought to be treated respectfully in the months preceding the visit to Rothley, the county, in that winter.
The court heard correspondence between the two individuals, in last November, considering trying to acquire Mrs McCann's genetic material from her bins or from utensils at a eating establishment.
"We need to take action," the co-defendant advised Ms Wandelt.
On the evening of the trip to their residence, Mrs Spragg dispatched a communication which said: "We are sitting adjacent to the McCanns' home with our lights out like detectives. I wanted to accomplish this with another person I hadn't anticipated I would be doing that with the McCanns."
The trial continues.