Police have rescued a woman found staggering in a garden nearby a house in Strasshof, in the Gaenserndorf area on Vienna's northeastern outskirts. Based on the passport found at the house where she was allegedly imprisoned and that she had the same distinctive scar as the Austrian girl, it is highly possible that she is Natascha Kampusch – an Austrian girl who went missing at the age of ten and sparked a huge manhunt.Her suspected kidnapper, Wolfgang Priklopil, died after throwing himself in front of a train. He had been chased by police earlier on Wednesday evening and his red BMW car was later found abandoned. Apparently, this poor girl has been kept in a garage that had a cavity measuring four by three metres (yards), with an entrance measuring 50cm by 50cm. The police believe it was blocked with a sound-proof safe whenever the kidnapper left the scene. A bed and bookshelf with children's books were reportedly also found there. It is still not clear what the kidnapper‘s motives were as police said that he had no connection to the girl’s family and there had been no ransom demand.
Psychologists believe that the woman suffered from "Stockholm Syndrome" – a psychological condition in which captives begin to sympathise with their kidnappers. Austrian police are waiting for her DNA test results due later on Thursday which will confirm the woman's identity.
She is indeed lucky to be well and alive after been abducted for so many years. Many abducted girls throughout the world were either raped and killed, or even forced into prostitution, and can only pray that someone can save them from their kidnappers.
Link: BBC
Image: Di / Flickr
Tags: Missing | Kidnap | Rescue | Natascha Kampusch
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