He made it clear to his daughter that he knew where she was and that she was never going to leave.

The investigation into Elisabeth’s whereabouts went cold and the world forgot about the missing girl. She asked her parents not to look for her or she would leave the country. The letter that Josef Fritzl gave to the police was postmarked from Braunau and claimed that Elisabeth was tired of living with her family and was staying with a friend. Almost a month after her disappearance, Josef Fritzl handed a letter to the police, the first of many that he had forced Elisabeth to write while in captivity. Fritzl visited Elisabeth in the hidden chamber almost every day, or a minimum of three times a week.Īfter Elisabeth’s disappearance, her mother, Rosemarie, filed a missing person report. The Cellar home where Elisabeth was kept inįor the next 24 years, the inside of the chamber would be the only thing Elisabeth Fritzl would see. Once Elisabeth held the door in place while Fritzl fitted it into the frame, he held an ether-soaked towel over her face until she lost consciousness, then threw her into the newly built chamber. He was re-fitting the door to the newly renovated cellar and needed her assistance. On August 28, 1984, when Elisabeth Fritzl turned 18, her father, Josef Fritzl, lured her into the basement of their family home by telling her he needed help carrying a door. Elisabeth Fritzl was lured in the basement by Josef After returning home, she rejoined the waitress course and finished it in 1984 and was offered a job in nearby Liz.

The police found her three weeks later and returned her to her parents. In January 1983, she ran away from home and went into hiding in Vienna with a friend from work.

However, despite Elisabeth being just 18 when he kidnapped her, Josef Fritzl began sexually assaulting his daughter as early as when she was 11 years old.Īt age 15, Elisabeth completed her education in Austria and subsequently began a course to become a waitress. The couple had three sons and four daughters, including Elisabeth. He married at the age of 21 to a 17-year-old woman named Rosemarie. Josef Fritzl was born on April 9, 1935, in Amstetten, Austria. However, in reality, Josef Fritzl knew exactly where his daughter was, she was being held captive just 20 feet below where the police officer was standing. Josef Fritzl, Elisabeth’s father, told the police officer who came to his house asking questions about his daughter that he had no idea where she would go but suggested that she may have joined a religious cult, something she had previously talked about doing. However, when all hope seemed lost, a letter arrived from Elisabeth, claiming she had grown tired of her family life and had run away. Her mother, Rosemarie, filed a missing person report in a state of panic, as there was no word from Elisabeth for weeks and everyone feared the worst.

The case of Elisabeth Fritzl is incredibly disturbing. The case came to light in April 2008, when one of the children born in captivity was taken to a hospital with an illness and the authorities became suspicious of the circumstances. Elisabeth, 18 years old at the time, went missing on August 28, 1984. Elisabeth Fritzl was kidnapped by her father and imprisoned in a cellar for 24 years, during which time she gave birth to seven children.

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