Madeleine McCann: Distressing voicemails left by Julia Wandelt claiming to be missing British girl

Taylor Renouf
PerthNow
Kate and Gerry McCann have held out hope they will find their daughter.
Kate and Gerry McCann have held out hope they will find their daughter. Credit: AAP

Distressing details have been revealed in court as a young woman and her “supporter” face trial accused of stalking the mother of missing girl Madeleine McCann.

Polish woman Julia Wandelt, 24, and Karen Spragg, 61, have been charged with stalking Kate McCann between June 2022 and February of this year.

It’s alleged Wandelt repeatedly called Mrs McCann over that time period, leaving voicemails claiming to be her missing daughter and demanding a DNA test.

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Madeleine was just three when she vanished from a resort in Praia da Luz where her family was holidaying in 2007.

Her disappearance has become one of the highest-profile missing persons cases in history.

Polish woman Julia Wandelt, who claimed she was missing British child Madeleine McCann, has reportedly been arrested.
Polish woman Julia Wandelt, who claimed she was missing British child Madeleine McCann, has reportedly been arrested. Credit: Supplied/Instagram, Supplied

On Monday, Leicester Crown Court were played voicemails left by Wandelt, with one recording revealing the moment she claimed her DNA was almost a 70 per cent match to Mrs McCann’s.

“You are my mother, it’s science no one can deny it,” Wandelt can be heard saying.

In another voicemail she claimed little Maddie was still alive, saying “I know you probably think that Madeleine is dead, but she is not”.

“What if there is a small chance that I’m her? What then? Isn’t that important for you? I don’t want money, I have a life here in Poland, I just want to know,” Wandelt said in another voicemail.

“‘Help me. Don’t think Madeleine is dead. This is a chance. Please, I beg you.”

Kate and Gerry McCann have held out hope they will find their daughter.
Kate and Gerry McCann have held out hope they will find their daughter. Credit: AAP

On October 9, 2024 Mrs McCann’s husband Gerry answered one of Wandelt’s calls telling her she had the wrong number, but Wendelt persisted, leaving another voicemail saying “I won’t give up and I will prove my point”.

On one occasion Wandelt and Spragg visited the McCanns’ house without permission, leaving the family very “distressed”.

Mrs McCann told the court the visit happened in the dark and she got “a fright”.

“She called me mum, I think, she was asking for a DNA test, ‘why won’t you do a DNA test?’ and pleading with me,” she said.

Karen Spragg outside Leicester Crown Court.
Karen Spragg outside Leicester Crown Court. Credit: Joe Giddens - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images

“I got a fright anyway. When I realised who it was I felt quite distressed.”

Mrs McCann said she tried to close the door but Wandelt put her hands out in an attempt to stop the door closing.

As Mrs McCann finished answering questions, Wandelt cried out “why are you doing this to me” and was escorted out of the courtroom by officers.

Wandelt and Spragg deny the charges and the trial continues.

Originally published on PerthNow

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