NEED TO KNOW
Natascha Kampusch was abducted in 1998 at age 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil, who kept her hidden in a secret cellar beneath his home near Vienna
She endured years of beatings and humiliation but found ways to survive — from imagining her older self rescuing her to defying him in small ways
After 3,096 days in captivity, Kampusch escaped while cleaning his car; hours later, Priklopil died by suicide before police could reach him
For eight years, Natascha Kampusch lived entombed beneath a suburban home — a child stolen off a Vienna street and hidden behind a trapdoor, her world reduced to concrete walls and the man who controlled, beat and humiliated her. She was 10 when she was abducted — and 18 when she finally ran to freedom.
Her abductor, 36-year-old Wolfgang Priklopil, had