In an Austrian incest case revealed Monday morning, 42-year-old Elisabeth Fritzi, who has been considered missing for the past 24 years, was found captive in a windowless cellar, where her father has kept her imprisoned since her disappearance on August 24, 1984.
Elisabeth’s father, 73-year-old Josef Fritzi, started sexually abusing her when she was 11 and, seven years later, handcuffed and locked her in their cellar. A letter later arrived at the Fritzi’s doorstep, supposedly from Elisabeth, stating that her parents should not look for her. Elisabeth’s mother figured that she had disappeared at her own will, completely unaware that her daughter was being held prisoner in the cellar. She was also unaware that Josef fathered seven children with his daughter during these 24 years.
Three of Elisabeth’s children have been living in the cellar with Elisabeth, never emerging to see the light of day. Three others were left on the doorstep of Josef and his wife, one after the other, with a note from “Elisabeth” stating she could not care for them herself. Josef and his wife cared for these children, his wife unaware of the truth. The seventh child died after birth. Josef burned the infant’s body.
This case came to the attention of the authorities Saturday evening in the town of Amstetten, after one of the children locked in the cellar was taken to the hospital, said to be very ill. Josef then admitted to the horrifying acts and led the police to the cellar, unlocking its solid, electronically keyless, concrete doors, to reveal his captives.
DNA tests are currently being conducted to confirm that Josef fathered these children. Elisabeth and her children who were held captive in the cellar are now under medical treatment and surveillance. Josef is being held in custody and is expected to appear in court later today. Their 19-year-old daughter, whose hospitalization led to this discovery, is still said to be in critical condition.
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April 28th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
WHAT?! No way. I can’t believe this.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
How did the mother not know! That’s very hard to believe if her daughters in her own cellar!
April 29th, 2008 at 1:29 am
so she gave birth to 7 kids without any medical help ? thats hard to believe !
April 29th, 2008 at 1:36 am
I don’t buy it. The mom had to know. How could she not know, its not like everyone has a solid concrete security door for their cellar. What did she think he had down there?
April 29th, 2008 at 4:09 am
Yeah i aggree.. The Wife of that man should have known that her dougther was Prisoned in the basement.. i mean when The father raped his doughter and when yeh the babies was born there is alot of crying.. the Wife should have known it, maybe she is lying..
April 29th, 2008 at 4:41 am
I read about this on CNN too- so disgusting!
April 29th, 2008 at 4:51 am
If the wife was still there she knew, that lets you know the state the world is in & many other events. That is pure selfishness & evil, & we are definitley in the last days of this wicked system. I couldn’t hide a phone number succesfully from my wife, how in the hell you going to hide 7 or 8 people, over 24 years. He took hide & seek to a new level.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:43 am
normal people do not grow eyebrows like that. those are the brows of satan.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I’m thinkin the mom had to know something was up too–he had to spend an awful lot of time down there for it to look like it did
April 29th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
How were the cellars built? Were they there before and he used them or did he build them?
April 30th, 2008 at 4:16 am
NO amount of jail time is LONG ENOUGH FOR THIS PSYCHO. He has destroyed so many lives. Now they are investigating him in a murder of a 17 year old girl 22 years ago…her bound body was found NEARBY A CAMPSITE/INN that his WIFE owned!!
This freak needs to be handed over to someone who will inflict severe and lengthy pain…just within an inch of his life, so he can suffer like that until he dies.
What he has done to his daughter and his entire family is mind-boggling and one of the most horrendous things I have heard, His daughter lived 24 YEARS like this!!
The poor woman. I only hope she is able to get enough counselling and treatment in order for her and her children to somewhat get through the past and have a happy and bright future.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:01 am
Ya, didn’t know that yet, that he’s being investigated for murdering a 17 year old girl back in the early 80s too….
Also just read that the 3 children have hunched backs from living in such small spaces for so many years and have huge vit C deficiencies from lack of sunlight, they look like albinos.
So sad…and here’s the kicker–I read he can get 15 years for rape charges–um, 15 years? I hope that is 15 years for each year that he raped her!
What message does this send to society? Only 15 years if you literally take someone’s life from them?
April 30th, 2008 at 5:03 am
The captive girls are also said to talk in more grunt-like fashion
April 30th, 2008 at 5:07 am
This guy needs to go away for the rest of his life–15 years–what a joke–what’s wrong w/society that they send rapist to jail for maximum of 15 years
April 30th, 2008 at 5:08 am
I agree w/ u liquidjungle
May 16th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
i agree with liquidjungle
this dude is crazy
he got so lucky the judge must of been a total bum
May 29th, 2008 at 8:51 am
This guy built an entire dungeon, they found some rooms and doorways some days later it is said to be a maze of like 10 doors to get to the place where he locked them up. What a total insano, that’s movie material seems almost unreal… sadly it is all true. The mother did in fact have no clue, his dungeon and even some rooms have been off limits for everyone for years I read…
July 11th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
This man is sick and he should be put away till the days he dies.
I feel soory for what he’s done to his own daughter.