Alleged Stalker Inquired: 'Yet Suppose I Might Be Madeleine?'
A female indicted with pursuing Kate McCann allegedly deposited her a phone message which posed: "imagine I am Madeleine?"
The defendant, 24, who a jury heard has consistently asserted she was the disappeared Madeleine McCann, and her co-defendant are on trial accused with pursuing Kate and Gerry McCann from June 2022 and February the current year.
On Monday, the tribunal learned communication data and evidence obtained from phones logged Ms Wandelt consistently requesting Madeleine's mother for a genetic test throughout the past two years.
Madeleine's disappearance in 2007 - when she was three years old during a vacation in Portugal - is considered the most covered child disappearance cases and is still open.
'I Do Not Need Money'
A separate phone message, played in court, documented Ms Wandelt declaring: "I understand I'm fat and not pretty like Madeleine was, but I know what I know."
While another instance of Ms Wandelt's one-way conversations with Mrs McCann's voicemail stated: "What if there is a small chance that I am she? What then? Isn't that crucial for you?"
"I am not seeking money, I have a living here in Poland, I simply desire to know," the recording stated.
The tribunal was advised that via electronic messages, text messages and calls, Ms Wandelt requested a genetic test, transmitted youth pictures to her phone in a bid to demonstrate a resemblance to Mrs McCann's disappeared daughter, and stated to have "flashbacks" from a childhood with the McCanns.
Robert Jones, an investigator with Leicestershire Police who gathered the data, told the court there "seemed to lack any responses" from Mrs McCann.
Ms Wandelt additionally contacted family friends of the McCanns, based on the call data.
On 9 October 2024, Gerry McCann answered a communication from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, saying she had "a wrong number."
On that occasion Ms Wandelt left a message on Mrs McCann's answerphone stating "I will continue and I intend to demonstrate my position."
The court was informed the co-defendant struck up a association through digital means with Ms Wandelt preceding assisting her on a appearance to the McCanns' home in Leicestershire in that winter.
Phone records showed Mrs Spragg had reached out through WhatsApp to Mrs McCann to say the news outlets had depicted Ms Wandelt as "mentally unstable" but that she should be considered genuine in the time leading up to the trip to that location, Leicestershire, in December 2024.
The court learned communications between the two defendants, in last November, considering attempting to acquire Mrs McCann's genetic material from her garbage or from silverware at a dining venue.
"We need to take action," the co-defendant told Ms Wandelt.
On the night of the visit to their house, Mrs Spragg dispatched a text which stated: "We find ourselves sitting outside the McCanns' house with our vehicle dark resembling private investigators. I had hoped to accomplish this with Peter Andrew I didn't imagine I would be involved in this with the McCanns."
The proceedings ongoing.
