On October 6, 2025, the unsettling saga of Julia Wandelt—a 24-year-old woman from Lubin, south-west Poland—unfolded in a Leicester Crown Court, bringing renewed attention to the enduring pain of Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of missing child Madeleine McCann. The trial, which continues today, has thrust the McCann family back into the spotlight after nearly two decades of public scrutiny and private anguish.
Wandelt, alongside Karen Spragg, 61, from Caerau, Cardiff, stands accused of stalking the McCanns between June 2022 and February 2025, causing what prosecutors describe as “serious alarm and distress.” Both deny all charges. According to evidence presented in court, Wandelt’s campaign included a barrage of emails, repeated phone calls, and even visits to the McCanns’ family home in Leicestershire.
One particularly harrowing detail emerged from the testimony: on a single day in April 2024, Wandelt messaged Kate McCann’s phone more than 60 times. The court heard that Mrs. McCann did not respond to any of these attempts at contact. Prosecutor Michael Duck KC told jurors that Wandelt’s actions were relentless and deeply intrusive, noting, “The refusal to respond by Ms McCann did not deter Julia Wandelt.” According to The Independent, Wandelt even left a voicemail pleading to be believed, stating, “Please just give me a chance, I’m not a liar, I’m not crazy – I just want to know the truth. Call me or message me or whatever please.”
Wandelt’s claims did not stop at asserting she was Madeleine McCann. Prosecutors revealed that she also contacted the charity Missing Years Ago in early 2023, first suggesting that she was Inga Gehricke, a young girl who disappeared in Germany. Later, she claimed to be another missing child, Acacia Bishop. In each case, prosecutors emphasized that Wandelt was precluded from being a realistic candidate due to her age and “obvious differences.” As Michael Duck KC put it, “There could never have been a legitimate belief by Julia Wandelt that she was Madeleine McCann.”
The court was also played a voicemail in which Wandelt insisted, “You have nothing to lose, if I’m her then everybody should be okay but if I’m not, as you probably think, then I will leave you alone. I know my accent is Polish because I live here, I know I look fat and I know I’m not pretty like Madeleine was in the past, but I know what I know, I know what I remember.” She added, “Please just give me a chance, I’m not a liar, I’m not crazy – I just want to know the truth.”
The emotional toll of these persistent contacts was evident in the courtroom. As prosecutors made clear to the jury that Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann, Wandelt herself broke down in tears and retreated to the back of the dock. After a ten-minute break, she returned to hear the rest of the proceedings, visibly shaken by the stark rejection of her claims.
Wandelt’s communications were not limited to Kate McCann. She also emailed Gerry McCann in June 2023 and messaged Madeleine’s younger sister, claiming to have “many things” she could remember and insisting, “I would never lie.” She described experiencing “flashbacks” from hypnosis sessions, including memories of spoon-feeding Madeleine’s younger brother. In one message, Wandelt told Kate McCann she remembered her “rubbing my head and said I love you and you would find me” on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance.
Despite Wandelt’s repeated assertions, the court heard there is “unequivocal scientific evidence” that she has no familial link to the McCanns. According to The Independent, this evidence was presented as fact, leaving little room for ambiguity regarding Wandelt’s identity.
Spragg, Wandelt’s co-defendant, is alleged by prosecutors to have made calls, sent letters, and attended the home address of the McCanns. Both women, prosecutors argue, are part of a group that “continue to fail to acknowledge [the McCanns’] plight and perpetuate conspiracy theories.” Prosecutor Duck noted, “The attention they have received has not always been compassionate, sometimes far from it. There remains a group of individuals who continue to fail to acknowledge their plight and perpetuate conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, these two defendants belong to that latter group.”
The backdrop to this trial is the haunting, unresolved disappearance of Madeleine McCann. In May 2007, three-year-old Madeleine vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, while her parents dined nearby with friends. The McCanns and their friends took turns checking on the sleeping children every half hour, but tragedy struck nonetheless. The case drew worldwide attention and quickly became one of the most famous missing child investigations in history.
The subsequent police investigation, dubbed Operation Grange, has cost £13.2 million as of May 2024, according to The Telegraph. The case has seen a dizzying array of suspects, theories, and false leads. At one point, Portuguese detectives even made Kate and Gerry McCann “arguidos”—formal suspects—in their daughter’s disappearance, a status later lifted with a public apology from Portuguese authorities.
In 2020, German police identified Christian Brueckner, a 43-year-old prisoner, as a suspect. By 2022, Brueckner was formally named a suspect by Portuguese authorities and charged with three counts of rape and two charges of child sex abuse, all unrelated to Madeleine’s disappearance. He went on trial in Brunswick, Germany, in February 2024, but was acquitted of all charges in October. Despite the acquittal, German prosecutors asserted that the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance would continue, though by January 2025, a prosecutor reportedly suggested that Brueckner was unlikely to face any further charges in the foreseeable future.
The McCanns have endured not only the loss of their daughter but also the relentless glare of public attention, conspiracy theories, and—now—direct harassment by individuals claiming to be their missing child. The ongoing trial is a stark reminder of the family’s inability to escape the “constant glare of publicity that came with that tragedy,” as Duck told the jury.
As the trial resumes, the world watches yet again, hoping for closure in a case that has remained painfully unresolved for 18 years. For the McCanns, each new chapter is a reminder of both hope and heartbreak, as they continue to search for answers while fending off those who would exploit their tragedy.
