197
Natascha Kampusch later bought
the house where she was kept in a cell
(above), to prevent it from becoming a
“theme park”.See also: The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping 178–85 ■ The Kidnapping of John Paul Getty III 186–87
■ The Kidnapping of Patty Hearst 188–89KIDNAPPING AND EXTORTION
on, Priklopil warned Natascha that
he had a gun, and that he would
use it to kill her if she tried to
escape. He told her that the doors
and windows of the house were
booby-trapped with explosives.
As the years passed and
Natascha reached her early teens,
she became less docile towards
her captor. Priklopil responded by
stepping up his efforts to cement
his domination over her: he began
regularly beating and starving her,
and keeping her in darkness for
long periods. He also brought her
upstairs to clean his house. On a
few occasions, he took Natascha
with him on trips outside the
house, during which the girl was
too afraid to run away, or to reach
out to the people she encountered.Breaking free
On 23 August 2006, when she was
18, Natascha finally found a chance
to escape. Priklopil had asked
her to vacuum the interior of his
car, which was parked in the yard.
He took a call on his cell phone, and
wandered off for a moment to get
away from the noise. Natascha left
the vacuum running to cover her
and simply walked out the gate.You saw my dungeon... You
know how small it was. It was
a place to despair.
Natascha KampuschShe then started sprinting down
the street, begging passers-by for
help. At first she was ignored, but
finally she convinced someone to
contact the police. On the day of
Natascha’s escape, Priklopil went
to a close friend and confessed his
crime, saying: “I am a kidnapper
and a rapist.” He then killed himself
by jumping in front of a train.
Once Natascha had emerged,
Austria’s police were criticized for
failing to investigate certain leads
in the wake of her disappearance.
In the years that followed, rumours
persisted that Priklopil had had an
accomplice – fuelled by the young
witness’s insistence that two men
had taken Natascha. In 2012, anine-month international probe,
which included experts from the
FBI, looked closely at the case and
concluded that it was highly likely
Priklopil had acted alone.
Natascha Kampusch’s traumatic
ordeal and her sensational escape
made global headlines. In 2011, she
wrote an account of her captivity,
3,096 Days; in 2016, she published
another book, 10 Years Of Freedom,
in which she reflected on her
difficult adjustment to her new life
amid constant public scrutiny. ■196-197_Natascha_Kampusch.indd 197 13/01/2017 15:19