Confirmation: Missing Austrian girl found

Austrian authorities today said a young woman found near Vienna had been identified as a girl who went missing more than eight years ago.

The woman said her name was Natascha Kampusch and told police she had been kidnapped and kept in a small enclosure under a garage for years. Her alleged kidnapper killed himself last night.

Armin Halm, spokesman for Austrian’s federal police, said Kampusch had been identified by a scar on one of her ears that dates back to an operation she had when she was younger. Results of a DNA test are expected later today, but “we are quite sure it’s her”, Halm said.

The discovery could bring closure to one of the biggest police mysteries in recent Austrian history.

Kampusch, then aged 10, vanished in Vienna on her way to school on March 2, 1998. Her disappearance triggered a massive search that extended into neighbouring Hungary.

Yesterday afternoon, police said they found the young woman in a garden north-east of Vienna.

The woman, who was identified late yesterday by her father, mother and half-sister, told police that she had been kidnapped and held prisoner by a man, Halm said.

Halm said police found Kampusch’s passport in the house in Lower Austria where she was allegedly kept.

The alleged kidnapper killed himself by jumping in front of a train in Vienna, Halm said.

He has been identified by Austrian media as 44-year-old Wolfgang Priklopil, an electrician.