Austrian Woman Says She Is Schoolgirl Who Disappeared 8 Years Ago
Yvonne Lee - All Headline News Staff Reporter Vienna, Austria (AHN) - An 18-year-old woman in Austria tells police she escaped a kidnapper who held her captive for eight years in a sealed garage. Police say relatives identified the woman as Natascha Kampusch, who disappeared in 1998 while she was walking to school. Herwig Haidinger, head of the Federal Crime Office (BKA), says DNA tests are being conducted to confirm her identity. However, investigators are nearly certain she is Kampusch. Austrian news agency APA quotes investigators as saying there are no signs the woman was sexually abused. The woman told police she escaped from a house in a village near Vienna. She said that since her kidnapping, she spent most of her time confined to a garage. She said her abductor allowed her to take occasional walks with him in the neighborhood. The woman said she was also allowed access to radio, television, newspapers and books. BKA investigator Erich Zwettler says the woman did not escape during one of their outings because she appears to have had "Stockholm Syndrome," a condition where captives begin to identify with their captors. APA quotes a police investigator as saying, "She is white-pale, looking as if she had been out of the light of day for a long time, but she articulated well and could read and write." A number of police officers are searching eastern Austria for a 44-year-ol |
