06/10/2025
FULL STORY - LOCKED UP IN CAPTIVITY FOR 24 YEARS BY HER FATHER AND SHE BIRTHED 7 CHILDREN FOR HIM
Years before the abduction, Josef remodeled the basement of their family house in Austria, where he eventually lured and imprisoned Elisabeth. When she disappeared, he claimed that she ran away from home, convincing even his wife, Elisabeth's mother Rosemarie, that she left willingly to join a cult.
Josef and Rosemarie raised three of Elisabeth's children, who Josef pretended Elisabeth left on their doorstep, while Elisabeth was forced to raise three of her children in a locked underground compound without windows.
She and seven of her children survived 8,516 days in captivity, according to The Belfast Telegraph, with some never seeing sunlight until they were adults. The case and its media attention were part of the inspiration for the 2010 novel Room and the film of the same name released five years later.
Since escaping, Elisabeth has kept a deliberately low profile. Here's everything to know about where Elisabeth Fritzl and her children are now.
Elisabeth was born on April 6, 1966, and raised in her family's home in Amstetten, Austria. When she was 11 years old, Josef started sexually abusing her, according to The Guardian.
Josef began drawing up plans to build his extended cellar around 1981 or 1982. He equipped the space with electricity, made it soundproof and installed a toilet, sink, stove and refrigerator, as well as a bed.
In 1984, he asked a then-18-year-old Elisabeth to help him hang the final door in the cellar, Sky News reported. During the process, Josef held an ether-soaked cloth to her face until she was unconscious and then moved her into the cellar, where she'd be trapped for 24 years.
Josef physically, mentally and sexually abused Elisabeth almost daily starting on the second day of her captivity. He told everyone that she had run away to join a cult and forced her write letters to support his story. Elisabeth was alone, save for Josef's abuse, for the first five years of captivity, per The Guardian.
During her 24 years of imprisonment, Elisabeth gave birth to seven of her father's children. Josef took three of the kids (Lisa, Monika and Alexander) to live with him and Rosemarie, staging three incidents in which a baby would be left on their doorstep with notes from Elisabeth asking for Josef and Rosemarie to care for them.
Meanwhile, three other children (Kerstin, Stefan and Felix) remained locked in the cellar with Elisabeth. A twin boy named Michael died days after birth and Josef later admitted to incinerating the co**se.
During his conversation with Austrian prosecutors, Josef noted that in case of his death, he had a timer set so that if he ever didn't unlock and enter the cellar for a certain length of time, it would unlock and she could be free. But there was an unexpected turn of events when Elisabeth's daughter, Kerstin, then 19, became ill.
On April 19, 2008, Elisabeth convinced Josef to bring Kerstin to a hospital for medical treatment. Once there, Josef gave Kerstin's care team a note to demonstrate that Elisabeth was Kerstin's mother who was away in a cult. Doctors made a televised appeal to Kerstin's missing mother to come forward and provide information about Kerstin's medical history, The New York Times reported.
Elisabeth, who had a television in the cellar, saw the TV report and convinced Josef to release her and the two other children, sons Felix and Stefan, who were still imprisoned in the cellar with her.
On April 26, 2008, Elisabeth visited Kerstin at the hospital with Josef after she was freed, at which point Josef was arrested on suspicion of sexual abuse. Police questioned Elisabeth about what she endured, but she wouldn't cooperate unless they promised her that she'd never have to see her father again.
Josef was charged with coercion, deprivation of liberty, in**st, r**e and enslavement of Elisabeth, as well as the murder of newborn Michael by negligence for not getting him medical attention, the BBC reported.
He initially pleaded guilty to all charges except enslavement and murder but after a few days of his criminal trial, pleaded guilty to all charges.
The New York Times reported that Michael's negligent death carried the highest sentence and prosecutors demanded the maximum time for Josef. On March 19, 2009, a then-73-year-old Josef was sentenced to life in prison.
Elisabeth changed her name after her father's trial and moved to a rural village known to the public as village X with her 6 surviving children.
