Katie Beers and other harrowing survivals in secret lairs
Elisabeth Fritzl
Credit: NewsCom
Elisabeth Fritzl was kidnapped and confined to a secret basement below her family home, in Amstetten, Austria, where she endured sexual abuse at the hands of her father, Josef Fritzl, for 24 years. The incestuous relationship resulted in seven children, one of which was a miscarriage. In 1994, Fritzl expanded the multi-room lair to 600 square feet. Three of the children lived with Elisabeth Fritzl in the house of horrors, while three were allowed to move upstairs and live with their grandmother. Fritzl told his wife that they were caring for their three young grandchildren who turned up on their doorstep. Each of the basement's eight rooms was separated by a locked door. The final room in which Elisabeth was mainly confined was accessible only through a three-foot solid steel door hidden by rows of shelves. The ordeal ended in 2008 when one of Elisabeth's children, gravely ill, was taken to a hospital. Suspicious doctors then alerted police.
