True Life Tuesday: Natascha Kampush

Natascha Maria Kampush was born on February 17, 1988 in Vienna Austria. Her parents are Brigitta Simy and Ludwig Koch who separated when she was very young. On March 2, 1998 she left her home for school but she never arrived. A 12 year old witness stated that she saw Natascha being dragged into a white minibus by 2 men. Police examined 776 minivans including the one driven by her kidnapper. He said that he was home at the tine and was using the minibus to remove rubble from construction on his home. The police believed his story and let him go. Rumors of child pornography and organ theft arose causing police to to look at links to crimes of French serial killer Michael Fourniret. Accusations were also made against her family. 

Natascha had been kidnapped by Wolfgang Priklopil who lived about 30 minutes from Vienna. She was held captive for 8 years in a small underground cellar that was soundproof with no windows. As time went on she spent more of her time upstairs but would have to go back to the room at night and while Prilkopil was at work. Once she turned 18 she was allowed to leave the house with her captor but he threatened to kill her if she tried to escape. She was allowed to have books, radio and TV. She also spent time cooking and doing housework. He told her that the doors and windows were booby trapped to explode. 

Natascha was able to escape on August 23, 2006. She was outside with Prilkopil vacuuming his van when he went inside to answer the phone. She left the vacuum running and ran while he was distracted. She ran to the home of a 71 year old neighbor and told her who she was. She was identified by a scar, her passport which was found in the room and DNA. Prilkopil ran in his BMW but the car was eventually found in a Vienna car park. He committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. Natascha wrote a memoir, 3096 Days, released in September 2010. The book was adapted into a movie in 2013

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