[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-post-title” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”|600|||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#dd1881″ header_font_size=”44px” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
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Here’s how Elisabeth Fritzl, Jaycee Dugard, Elizabeth Smart, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Sabine Dardenne eventually escaped the clutches of their cruel captors<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-80887838-e1706699389813.jpg” title_text=”Case Of 24 Year-long Capture And Incestuous Abuse Shocks Austria” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Monster Josef Fritzl is set to be moved from a prison psychiatric unit to a regular prison, paving the way, says his laywer, for him to be released to a nursing home\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Elisabeth\u2019s ordeal at the hands of her father finally came to an end on 19 April 2008. Twenty-four years earlier, just after her 18th birthday, she had been lured into a soundproofed dungeon beneath the family home in the Austrian town of Amstetten, when Fritzl said he needed help carrying a door. After telling his own wife that Elisabeth had run away to join a cult, Fritzl subjected his daughter to daily assaults, fathering seven children. Elisabeth\u2019s first words to police when she was freed were, \u201cNo one will believe me.\u201d But they did, and her monstrous father was arrested. A police officer who first interviewed Elisabeth described her as a \u201cnice woman with grey hair and a sort of blank expression, like wax.\u201d Now in her fifties, she was given a new identity \u2013 protected under Austrian law \u2013 and lives in a tiny hamlet in the countryside, with her six surviving children. She found happiness after falling in love with Thomas Wagner, the bodyguard assigned to look after her, who is 23 years her junior. According to a local restaurant owner, the family are \u201cpolite, happy and smile a lot\u201d, which is a world away from the unthinkable existence they endured for so long.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-566037203.jpg” title_text=”Jaycee Dugard in a photo dated about 1990. Dugard has been found after being kidnapped as an 11\u0096yea” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Since she and her daughters were freed, Jaycee has taken control of her life<\/p>\n
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Californian Jaycee was imprisoned for almost two decades after being abducted in 1991, aged 11, while walking to a school bus stop. She was approached by a car and thought the man wanted directions. Instead, she was shot with \u2028a stun gun and driven three hours from Lake Tahoe, California, to the home of convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy, in Antioch. When she was 14, Jaycee gave birth to her captor\u2019s child \u2013 a girl called Angel \u2013 in her backyard prison. \u201cIt was very painful, but she came out and she was beautiful,\u201d she told ABC News. \u201cI felt like I wasn\u2019t alone anymore.\u201d Her second daughter was born three years later. During her years in captivity, Jaycee hid small scraps of paper to write down her thoughts and feelings, including a list called \u201cMy Dreams For The Future\u201d. \u201cSee Mom\u201d was the first note she made, and it was dated 28 March 2006, three years before she was freed from her squalid prison. She had accompanied her captor to a parole office, and police were called after officers became suspicious. Jaycee initially denied there was anything wrong, but when pressed, confessed her true identity. It was later believed she may have had Stockholm Syndrome. Since she and her daughters were freed, Jaycee has taken control of her life. She\u2019s shared her story in two books, with the message, \u201cYou can survive and be OK.\u201d Now 43, Jaycee lives in California and dedicates her life to helping others. She set up a foundation after receiving a $20m settlement from the state, for parole agents\u2019 repeated failures to find her. \u201cYou don\u2019t think you can get through that thing,\u201d she said. \u201cBut if you make a choice that you want to be OK, you can be.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-873868642.jpg” title_text=”Lifetime And NeueHouse Women’s Forum Present The Film %22I Am Elizabeth Smart%22 With Elizabeth Smart And Actress, Deirdre Lovejoy” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Film I Am Elizabeth Smart, narrated and produced by Elizabeth, told the story of her kidnapping from her perspective<\/p>\n
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Kidnapped from her bedroom in June 2002 by religious fanatic Brian David Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee, Elizabeth \u2013 who was 14 years old \u2013 spent nine months in captivity and was drugged, raped, and subjected to religious rituals. Taken in the middle of the night by Mitchell, who pressed a knife to her throat, she was dragged out of the house and up into the mountains outside Salt Lake City, Utah.\u00a0 She was rescued in March 2003, by police officers on a street 18 miles from her home, after witnesses recognised her abductors from an America\u2019s Most Wanted episode. Elizabeth, now 36, has since become an activist and author. She launched the Elizabeth Smart Foundation in 2011, which helps stop children being exploited, and became a missing persons commentator for ABC News. In 2012, she married Matthew Gilmour and the couple have three children.\u00a0 In 2017, on the 15th anniversary of her abduction, Lifetime aired the made-for-television film I Am Elizabeth Smart, narrated and produced by Elizabeth, which told the story of her kidnapping from her perspective. She has also written three books about her experience. \u201cTo some people, I probably always will be that girl who was kidnapped,\u201d Elizabeth has said. \u201cBut when I look in the mirror, I see a mother and a wife, and someone I am proud to be. I see an advocate \u2013 I see a survivor.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-175276433-1-1.jpg” title_text=”Cleveland Kidnapper Ariel Castro Sentenced In Cleveland” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”3px|8px|3px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Georgina \u201cGina\u201d DeJesus \u2013 were snatched by former school bus driver Castro and held captive in his Cleveland home<\/p>\n
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The Ariel Castro kidnappings took place between 2002-2004 when three young women \u2013 Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Georgina \u201cGina\u201d DeJesus \u2013 were snatched by former school bus driver Castro and held captive in his Cleveland home. Michelle was 21 when she was taken in 2002 \u2013 the first of his victims \u2013 Amanda was 16 when she was abducted in April 2003, and Gina was 14 when she was taken a year later. The girls were chained up and raped for the next decade, and Amanda had one child who survived. The three girls escaped the \u201cHouse of Horrors\u201d in May 2013, when Castro left the inner front door of his house unlocked, and Amanda screamed for help. A neighbour heard her and called 911.
Now 42, Michelle \u2013 who married partner Miguel three years after her release and now goes by the name of Lillian Rose \u2013 refuses to be broken and says she no longer has nightmares about Castro, who hanged himself in prison. \u201cI have found joy in my life,\u201d she says. Now 37, Amanda hosts a daily news segment on American TV about missing persons, and Gina DeJesus is now 33, and works with search and rescue teams. \u201cI want to bring the missing back home, where they belong,\u201d she said. All three still occasionally see each other, but they don\u2019t dwell on the past. \u201cWe laugh,\u201d said Michelle. \u201cSilly stuff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-3004068.jpg” title_text=”Sabine Dardenne, 20, victim of the alleg” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″ locked=”off”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″ locked=”off”]<\/p>\n
Aged 12, Sabine Dardenne was one of the last two victims of serial killer Marc Dutroux<\/p>\n
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Belgian Sabine\u2019s account of her abduction on 28 May 1996 and its aftermath are documented in her \u20282005 memoir, I Choose To Live, which became a number one bestseller. Aged 12, Sabine was one of the last two victims of serial killer Marc Dutroux. She was snatched off the street as she rode her bicycle to school, and along with fellow captive Laetitia Delhez, 14, she survived \u2013 though the bodies of four other victims and Dutroux\u2019s accomplice were found on the property. Dutroux, dubbed \u201cThe Monster of Belgium\u201d, kept her chained up in his cramped, filthy cellar in the Belgian town of Marcinelle for 87 days. Belgian police rescued Sabine and Laetitia after witnesses to Laetitia\u2019s kidnap noted down his car registration plate and informed the authorities. Sabine, now 40, is adamant the ordeal is behind her, saying in an interview, \u201cI didn\u2019t ask for any of this, but I\u2019ve dealt with it all fairly well. In his cellar, I knew what was important for me was to see my family again. So, I didn\u2019t give up, I kept going.\u201d She refuses to be seen as a victim and after her release, she got back on her bike and set off for school again, alone. She said, \u201cYou can\u2019t spend the rest of your life crying, you can\u2019t live in the past.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
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PHOTOS: GETTY<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ module_class=”flatplan-readmore” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#111111″ custom_padding=”35px||35px||true|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”85%” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_3_text_color=”#FFFFFF” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,3_4″ module_class=”read-more-item” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”85%” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/07\/Thumbnailtgqq.jpg” title_text=”Thumbnailtgqq” module_class=”read-more-thumbnail” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text module_class=”read-more-headline” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|700|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” text_font_size=”16px” link_option_url=”https:\/\/apple.news\/ABgCYwvfNTKq0ormaQsj7Kw ” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Meghan and Harry\u2019s last resort ‘therapy’<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,3_4″ module_class=”read-more-item” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”85%” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/07\/bwbnewn.jpg” title_text=”bwbnewn” module_class=”read-more-thumbnail” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text module_class=”read-more-headline” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|700|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” text_font_size=”16px” link_option_url=”https:\/\/apple.news\/A0bBtVJeIRiSYmqM4nlVh6g” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n The sexy secrets behind Sofia Vergara\u2019s dirty divorce<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s been sixteen years since Elisabeth Fritzl was rescued from the dungeon where she\u2019d been held captive by her depraved father Josef Fritzl but it was recently revealed he is set to be moved from a prison psychiatric unit to a regular prison. We look at other women who escaped their dungeon prisons and emerged as true survivors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-life"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"closermag","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2031"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2043,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2031\/revisions\/2043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Read more from Closer<\/h3>\n