Man Kept Daughter Prisoner For 24 Years
Updated:14:38, Sunday April 27, 2008
Austrian police are investigating claims a man held his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and may have fathered six children by her.
Police have said little so far Detectives say the woman had been missing since August 29, 1984. She is now 42.
The case apparently came to light when one of the children, a teenage girl, was found alone in the man's house.
She was taken to a hospital in the Lower Austrian town of Amstetten where she is said to be critically ill.
There was no sign of the mother although she and the other five children have since been traced.
They are now being looked after by the local authorities.
Journalist Joe Remick told Sky News: "The only thing we know about the mother is that she is being evaluated by psychologists.
"Obviously, she will have been severely traumatised by her experience."
Police say the man being investigated is 73 years old. They have identified him as Josef F and his alleged victim as Elizabeth F.
The case follows that of Natascha Kampusch, the Austrian girl who was held captive by a man for more than eight years.
She was snatched aged eight in March 1998 by technician Wolfgang Priklopil.
He threw himself in front of a train after she escaped. He was 44 at the time.
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