Posted on 08/24/2006 8:54:51 AM PDT by nuconvert
Austrian escapes captor after 8 years
By VERONIKA OLEKSYN, Associated Press Writer
An 18-year-old woman who was kidnapped eight years ago and held captive in a cellar managed to escape, and her alleged abductor committed suicide by jumping in front of a train, authorities said Thursday.
Natascha Kampusch was found in a yard in a residential area northeast of Vienna on Wednesday afternoon. She was identified by a scar on one of her arms from a childhood operation, authorities said, ending one of Austria's biggest police mysteries. She had disappeared while walking to school as a 10-year-old.
The alleged kidnapper has been identified by Austrian media as 44-year-old Wolfgang Priklopil. A DNA analysis was under way to confirm his identity, Austrian television reported.
Armin Halm, spokesman for Austrian's federal police, said the woman told investigators her name was Natascha Kampusch and said she was kidnapped and kept for years in a cellar under a garage in a house in Strasshof, just outside Vienna, police said.
Besides the telltale scar, she also was identified by her father, mother and half sister. Results of a DNA test were expected later Thursday, Austrian television reported.
"We are quite sure it's her," Halm said.
Kampusch vanished in Vienna on her way to school on March 2, 1998, triggering a massive search that extended into neighboring Hungary.
Erich Zwettler of Austria's federal police was quoted by the Austria Press Agency as saying the woman appeared to have a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome, a survival mechanism in which a hostage begins to empathize with a captor.
Investigators said the woman had been examined by a doctor and that she did not have signs of injuries. But police are investigating whether she was beaten or sexually abused.
Nikolaus Koch, a lead investigator, said on Austrian television that the police had contact with the alleged kidnapper about three months after the girl disappeared but that he had a "sturdy alibi" at the time.
Halm said the woman spent the night in "a secure location" in the presence of a female police officer with specialized psychological training. She was due to undergo more questioning throughout the day, he said.
Kampusch's sister said in remarks broadcast on Austrian television that her mother almost had a nervous breakdown when police notified her Wednesday, adding that she always held onto the hope that her daughter would come back one day.
"She always said she was still alive," said the sister, who was identified as Sabina Sirny.
WOW
If she had such "a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome", why did she escape?
>>>Kampusch's sister said in remarks broadcast on Austrian television that her mother almost had a nervous breakdown when police notified her Wednesday, adding that she always held onto the hope that her daughter would come back one day.
"She always said she was still alive," said the sister, who was identified as Sabina Sirny.>>>
Which will drive every mother of a missing child insane as they will all use this story as a reason. Sad. For all involved.
This young person has my prayers! God Bless her and her family!
There is a God.
There are some horrible people on this Earth.
I can't imagine doing this to anyone, much less a child.
Or perhaps we could focus on the joy of her still being alive and reunited with her loving family. What a wonderful story!
Doesn't give any abt the kidnapper? Plus committing suicide was too good for the dirty rotten reprobate.
"Sad, but I would imagine the person that disappeared 8 years ago is gone forever."
You're no doubt right, but at least she's alive.
If it had happened here the railroad would have been sued for his death.
But at least he's gone. He'd probably get a slap on the wrist and let go otherwise, so he could do it again.
But police are investigating whether she was beaten or sexually abused.
Like she wouldn't have been? What else would any jerk who'd kidnap a 10 year old and hold her for 8 years be doing?
*Sturdy alibi*?
This isn't the first time I've heard of the police in situations like this have the guy at some point early on and let him go. She could have been free for sooooo much longer. Poor girl. Poor family. Thank God she got free.
You can say that again… how wonderful!
Maybe with God's help, she can still have a good life.
In Austria I doubt he would've gotten more than fifteen years in prison. It's a good thing he's dead.
Yes, but this happy ending is just part of it. It would be more relevant had she met a sad end. That is when the fact there is a God is most important. We concentrate on ourselves and our mourning, that is natural, but rarely recall that God is seeing after the innocent deceased with his undying love.
Wow, amazing story. Thanks for the ping.
susie
how old was she when she went missing?
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