The Girl Who Spent 24 Years in Her Father’s Prison

Imprisoned and became a sex slave, gave birth to 7 children

L. Small
The Crime Scene
Published in
9 min readSep 5, 2020

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Elisabeth Fritzl at 16 years old. Photo source.

Parents, especially fathers, should be good and protect their children. But not for Josef Fritzl. Instead of protecting his princess, he locked her up. This is a sad story of Elisabeth Fritzl, a girl who was tortured and raped before giving birth to 7 children over 24 years.

The Disappearance Of Elisabeth Fritzl

The nightmare started on August 28, 1984, when Elisabeth, 18 years old, vanished from her house. Her mother, Rosemarie, made a report about the loss to the local police. For weeks, there was no news of Elisabeth’s discovery. Suddenly, her parents receive a letter from Elisabeth, in which she stated that she was tired of her family life and ran away.

Josef Fritzl told police who came to the house stating that he did not know where Elisabeth had gone. However, Josef said that she might join a religious group, something Elisabeth had told him before.

In fact, Josef knew where her daughter was. Elisabeth was apparently in the basement, 20 feet under in the house where they lived.

On August 28, 1984, Josef called his daughter to the basement of their home. He installed the door to the newly renovated basement and needed some help.

Elisabeth helped her father install the door. Suddenly, Josef swung the door, and Elisabeth was pushed and fell into the room. Then Josef cupped his daughter’s face with a towel until she fainted. For 24 years, all Elisabeth could see was just a dirty basement. Her father lied to her mother and the police about Elisabeth’s disappearance.

However, the police investigation found a dead end until the disappearance of Elisabeth was no longer the view of the world community. Rosemarie knew that Josef would be in the basement at 9 am every day to plan for the machine he was selling. Sometimes, he would spend the night in the room, but his wife suspected nothing because she thought her husband was a hard worker and dedicated person. However, in Elisabeth Fritzl’s eyes, Josef was a monster.

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L. Small
The Crime Scene

"One arrow alone can be easily broken but many arrows are indestructible" ~Genghis Khan~