Natascha Maria Kampusch (born 17 February 1988) is an Austrian woman who was abducted at the age of 10 on 2 March 1998 and held in a secret cellar by her kidnapper Wolfgang Přiklopil for more than eight years, until she escaped on 23 August 2006. In 2009 she became a spokesperson for the animal rights group, PETA. She has written a book about her ordeal, 3,096 Days (2010), upon which the 2013 German film, 3096, is based.
The 10-year-old Kampusch left her family's residence in Vienna's Donaustadt district on the morning of 2 March 1998, but failed to arrive at school or come home. A 12-year-old witness reported having seen her being dragged into a white minibus by two men, although Kampusch did not report a second man being present. A massive police effort followed in which 776 minivans were examined, including that of her kidnapper, Přiklopil, who lived about half an hour from Vienna by car in the Lower Austrian town of Strasshof an der Nordbahn, near Gänserndorf. Although he stated that on the morning of the kidnapping he was alone at home, the police were satisfied with his explanation that he was using the minibus to transport rubble from the construction of his home.
Speculations of child pornography rings or organ theft were offered, leading officials to also investigate possible links to the crimes of the French serial killer Michel Fourniret. Because Kampusch had carried her passport with her when she left (she had been on a family trip to Hungary a few days before), the police extended the search abroad. Accusations against Kampusch's family complicated the issue even more.
During the eight years of her captivity, Kampusch was held in a small cellar underneath Přiklopil's garage. The entrance was concealed behind a cupboard. The cellar only had 5 square metres (54 sq ft) of space. It had a door made of concrete and was reinforced with steel. The room had no windows and was soundproof. For the first six months of her captivity, Kampusch was not allowed to leave the chamber at any time, and for several years of her captivity she was not allowed to leave the tiny space at night. Afterwards, she spent increasing amounts of time upstairs in the rest of the house, but each night was sent back to the chamber to sleep, as well as while Přiklopil was at work.
In later years, she was seen outside in the garden alone, and Přiklopil's business partner has said that Kampusch seemed relaxed and happy when she and Přiklopil called at his home to borrow a trailer. After her eighteenth birthday, she was allowed to leave the house with Přiklopil, but her kidnapper threatened to kill her if she made any noise. He later took her on a skiing trip to a resort near Vienna for a few hours. She initially denied that they had made the trip, but eventually admitted that it was true, although she said she had no chance to escape during that time.
According to Kampusch's official statement after her escape, she and Přiklopil would get up