Can't even imagine what she went through and will most likely never have normal mental faculties. Those are the most important years in a persons developmental life.
Link VIENNA, Austria - Police said Friday that DNA tests prove that a young woman who turned up in a small town outside Vienna this week is the same woman who vanished eight years ago as a 10-year old while walking to school.
The announcement was made at a news conference called to give new details of the investigation into the disappearance of Natascha Kampusch and her discovery Wednesday in Strasshof, the small town where she said she was held by an abductor.
Relatives had already identified Kampusch, but police had been waiting for the results of DNA tests to remove any doubt.
Natascha's sister told Austrian TV on Thursday that her mother almost had a breakdown when police notified her of the discovery of the young woman. She said her mother always held onto the hope that Natascha would come back one day.
"She always said she was still alive," said the sister, identified as Sabina Sirny.
Kampusch vanished on her way to school on March 2, 1998. The man who allegedly abducted her killed himself Wednesday a few hours after she sought help at a home on the quiet, small-town street where she says she was held.
Police, who confirmed the identity of the alleged kidnapper as Wolfgang Priklopil, a 44-year-old communications technician, said he killed himself by throwing himself in front of a commuter train in Vienna.
Photos released by police of the hiding place in his house where the young woman said she was kept showed a small, cluttered room with narrow concrete stairs leading down to it from an entrance so small it would have to be crawled through. Another photo showed a metal hatch that sealed the windowless, underground room.
Police on Thursday said there was a bed and a toilet in the cramped space. Images on TV showed a small television in the room, which also had a sink and was littered with piles of books. Police said the woman was occasionally allowed to watch videos.
Investigators released few details as they worked to piece the story together.
But state broadcaster ORF carried remarks Thursday from Erich Zwettler, of the Austrian federal police, saying the young woman escaped from her captor when the door to her hiding place was left open. He said she ran into a nearby garden where she told an elderly woman she had been kidnapped and identified herself as Natascha Kampusch.
Strasshof is a semi-rural community where tidy houses adorned with flower boxes are mostly set close together. Children play freely in the streets and doors are left open. Neighbors said they were shocked by the reports and had seen no signs of anything to raise suspicion.
Nikolaus Koch, a lead investigator, said on Austrian television that police had contact with Priklopil about three months after Natascha disappeared in 1998 but he had a "sturdy alibi" at the time.
At the time, another girl told police she had seen Natascha being dragged into a white van.
Police tracked down the van Thursday and were investigating if Priklopil had an accomplice, Austrian TV reported.
