Teen held for 8 years defends her captor

[4544x4]

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- An Austrian teenager who spent eight years in a dingy underground cell until her dramatic escape last week on Monday defended her captor as "part of my life" and insisted she didn't miss anything during her long ordeal.

In remarks read to reporters by a psychologist, 18-year-old Natascha Kampusch said she understood the "extreme curiosity" about what she endured and how she is faring since she bolted to freedom last Wednesday, but she pleaded with journalists: "Please leave me alone for a while."

"Everyone wants to ask intimate questions, (but) they don't concern anyone," she said. "I feel good where I'm at now."

Police said Monday they had only begun to question Kampusch about her abduction at age 10 in March 1998 by Wolfgang Priklopil, who killed himself within hours of her escape by throwing himself in front of a commuter train.



Police Maj. Gen. Gerhard Lang of the Federal Criminal Investigations Bureau said investigators are continuing to follow up on every lead in the case, which until last week was one of Austria's greatest unsolved criminal mysteries.

Although authorities have released photographs and video footage of the cramped, windowless basement cell where Kampusch was kept, she referred to it simply as "my room" in her statement, read by criminal psychologist Max Friedrich.

"It's my room, and not for the public to see," Kampusch said.

She also denied ever calling Priklopil her master, even though she said the 44-year-old communications technician wanted her to.


"He was not my master. I was equally strong," her statement read. "I didn't cry after the escape. He was a part of my life. ... In principle, I don't have the feeling that I missed something."


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

[Rockhales]

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=503585

[90WAG]

Baggage?

[Myanarchy]

stockholm syndrome

[Mo]

Originally Posted by Myanarchy

stockholm syndrome

big time

[PhatXJ]

She doesn't think she missed anything, because she doesn't know what she missed. She is cluless to the world at this pont.

Give her 5 years and after the Stockholm wears off, she'll change her mind.

[fledgling666]

by her statements she seems to really understand what happened and even been able to control it to an extent. stockholm syndrome is when captives sympathize with their captors. this seems to be different. she seems to be making a strong statement that this is how her life is, period, it is different than what you would normally expect, but this is it. she says she didn't miss anything, this says she wants no pity. she seems to be a strong one.

[Slowerthanu]

Originally Posted by fledgling666

by her statements she seems to really understand what happened and even been able to control it to an extent. stockholm syndrome is when captives sympathize with their captors. this seems to be different. she seems to be making a strong statement that this is how her life is, period, it is different than what you would normally expect, but this is it. she says she didn't miss anything, this says she wants no pity. she seems to be a strong one.

Wrong. She said her captor was "part of her life" and that she missed nothing. Sounds like Stockholm to me.

[ev13wt]

Hitler was from Autria too btw...

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by Slowerthanu

Wrong. She said her captor was "part of her life" and that she missed nothing. Sounds like Stockholm to me.

Exactly.

8 years all she knew was her captor and a dark basement, of course he was part of her life...he was the only thing or person in her life at all.