Loading summary
Transcript4 lines
- [00:01]
A
Plan B is a backup birth control option that's there for you when things don't go according to plan. It specifically works after unprotected sex and before pregnancy occurs by temporarily delaying ovulation. Plan B is available nationwide at all major retailers and through delivery apps like DoorDash, no ID, prescription or age requirement. It's the number one OBGYN recommended brand of emergency contraception and it won't impact your future fertility. That's freedom to be use as directed.
- [00:30]
B
Today we're talking about a very well known case involving a little girl who was taken. She was kidnapped in broad daylight when she was supposed to be on her way to school. She obviously and unfortunately never made it to school that morning. And for the next eight years she was kept hidden in an underground cellar that was built just for her. So this is a case that I've covered on TikTok before, but like I've said before, there are some cases that I want to live on this plat on my podcast. I've talked about so so many cases on Tick Tock but there are some such as this one that I want to have on the podcast just so they live on here forever. So they're on YouTube. That being said, if you think that you've heard me talk about this case before is because you have. Anyway, with that being said, I do have to give my usual warning. We are talking about a child in today's case. If you think that listening to this is going to hurt your mental health in any way, shape or form, please skip this episode and I will see you in my next one. I mean it. Take care of yourselves. I love you. In 1998, 10 year old Natasha Campus was living in Vienna. This is in Austria. She was the youngest of three children and came from what most have described to be normal but somewhat turbulent home. Her parents had recently separated. There was a little bit of tension in the family because of that. But on top of other tension that already existed within the family because Natasha's mom was pretty strict and she had a lot of high expectations for her daughter and Natasha was living with her mom at the time of her abduction. And even though her mom has said that she had a lot of love for her daughter, the environment that Natasha grew up in and the way that she was treated as a child and it wasn't good for her mental health. But despite everything as a child she has been described as bright, kind and independent. The morning of March 2, 1998. It was a Monday. That day, 10 year old Natasha left Home and she started her usual walk to school that morning. Like I said, her mother was pretty strict and she never allowed Natasha to go anywhere by herself, let alone walk anywhere all on her own. But Natasha was also raised to be very independent and she wanted to be able to go to places by herself. So it took some convincing. But eventually her mother finally agreed to let her start walking to school instead of having to drive her and then dropping her off. That Monday was the very first day of her walking to school, but she left her house, she disappeared and nobody would be able to find her for the next eight years. When Natasha failed to return back home at the end of the school day, at the time that she was supposed to, her mother called the school only to find out that Natasha had never made it to school that morning. Authorities were then called and almost immediately a search ensued to find her. Police officers searched through the path that she would have taken from her house to the school. Neighbors were interviewed, fields were searched. They were looking for signs of where she could have gone, but also signs of any way that would, any, anything that would show them. Possibly something that distracted her or something that stopped her from making it all the way to the school. And then a 12 year old kid comes forward, another little girl who had seen something that she knew was important and that was that on her walk to school. And she had seen Natasha. I'm not sure if she knew that it was Natasha at the time, but she knew that she had seen another little girl. And she told investigators that she saw this little girl being pushed into a white van by a man. Confirming their worst fears that 10 year old Natasha had been abducted in broad daylight. So now the investigation turned into find anyone in the area who may have a white van or, or who may be connected to someone who drove a white van and question them. And that's exactly what they did. Authorities found over 1,000 different people with white vans and they talked to every single one of them. And yet days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months turned into years with absolutely no sign of Natasha. So where was she? Well, when she had been on her walk and about halfway to her school, Natasha had noticed a man, awkward, standing outside of his open white delivery van. He was near a sidewalk. Within seconds of walking past him, he had grabbed her, overpowered her and threw her into the back of his van, closing the door and speeding off into the direction of his house. The man responsible was 35 year old Wolfgang Pricklepill, a communications technician who had been stalking the area for days Looking for his perfect victim, he drove Natasha to his home in a suburbs called Strawf. I think I'm pronouncing that correctly, but let me know if I'm wrong. When they got there, he wrapped her up in a blue blanket and he carried her inside into a tiny little cellar room that he had previously been preparing to keep his victim in. Priklopil referred to this room as his dungeon. So it was through a small trapdoor in the garage and down some stairs. So it was underground through a hollowed out concrete wall hidden on the other side of a small metal hatch. And that was all completely hidden behind a cupboard. The cellar itself had also been soundproof. So it was underground in a room within a room, if that makes any sense. It was also so well hidden and so heavily secured that it took them almost an hour to even get inside of them. But. But once they did and they got inside of the room, they walked into this room that Pricklo Pill had prepared. And you know what's absolutely terrifying to think about is that the fact that if something happened to that man, say he passed away or he moved away or just decided to leave, I don't know, Natasha would stay inside of that room completely trapped, completely alone, and she would probably pass away from a lack of oxygen or a lack of food and water before anyone can find her. That's terrifying to think about. And that's if they found her at all. Because again, the room that she was kept in was so small and it was so well hidden, it was 5 by 5 meters, it was soundproof, it was windowless, and inside it was so incredibly cramped and cluttered with a bed, a toilet, what was supposed to be this tiny little desk, I guess, and this small makeshift plastic ventilator fan looking thing. But the fan was barely enough to keep some sort of air circulation within the room and it made the most annoying rattling sound 24 7. Add to that the fact that in the beginning the lights inside of that room were on 24 7. I mean, those two things alone, with absolutely nothing else to distract you, would be enough to drive someone to insanity. And Pricklopill, by the way, I mean, the guy wasn't smart. I think a lot of his brain was left unused. But he did have some experience in construction, which is what he did put to use when he was in the process of building out the cellar. Once they were inside, he took her shoes and he took her backpack. And when she pleaded with him to please let her keep her backpack, Priklopill responded By saying that she couldn't keep it because she.
- [08:31]
A
She.
- [08:31]
B
Okay, the victim in this situation, she could have a hidden transmitter in her backpack that she would be planning on using in order to be able to call for help. Like, this is actually what he told her. This is the reasoning that he gave her for not being able to let her keep her backpack. Natasha then asked him if he was going to essay her, to which he responded to by saying, no. Quote, you're too young for that. For the first four years of her life in that cellar, Priclo pill mistreated her in such a sick way psychologically. But he never touched her. And even though Natasha was only 10 years old, she had seen things on TV before. She had watched the news. She knew what men like him did to little girls when they took them. And I think she was mentally preparing herself for the worst. And she was caught completely off guard when instead of what she expected to, he turned to her and he asked her if she needed anything to help her feel more comfortable. He then went out and he bought her a new mattress, a toothbrush, a hairbrush, books, toys, cookies. And as days passed and weeks passed, they fell into this very, very odd, uncomfortable routine in which Priklopill would come down and he would bring her down more cookies, more food, more desserts, more books, more toys, different snacks, and even hot plates at times that she could have for dinner. Over time, the quote unquote presents he would give her became very random, turning into things such as tape and mouthwash. But still he would give her things that she would ask for. So it was so incredibly confusing and so scary, but also so weird and so odd, because the fact of the matter is that this man abducted her, this little girl in broad daylight, basically stole her from her family. Not basically, this is what he did. Stole her from her family and her friends and took everything away that made her her. Holding her and hiding her from the outside world. Yet he was almost acting like he was nice to her, reading her bedtime stories, feeding her, helping her paint, homeschooling her, teaching her math and English to make up for the things that she was missing out on at school. But then, of course, at times, he would snap and his behavior would completely change and he would yell at her and he would become this different person, I guess, just showing a different side of him to her. He wouldn't give her food for the day. He would tell her that there was this group of men that would come and break into the cellar and get her and take her away. Forever. If she didn't listen to him, it the way that he treated her, it was such a psychological mind game. It is so twisted and weird, just weird weird behavior and so scary. Especially if, just imagine if it's this weird and hard to comprehend as listening to this as adults. Imagine how confusing and scary this would have been for a little girl when she was the victim in this situation. And the way that Natasha learned how to deal with this and learned how to adapt with a situation, I mean it was just a survival tactic. But she would put herself in a mind of a toddler pretending that she was even younger, of a child that she was and someone who did need help, or just imagining things flat out that were not real. Whatever she could to do to help her keep her sanity. So for example, when he would bathe her, she would pretend that she was at a spa. When he would spoon feed her instead of just letting her eat by herself, she would convince herself that she was this child who did need help. When he would read to her, she would imagine herself as this little girl whose father was reading her a bedtime story. When he would buy her things, she would convince herself that she that he was this gentleman. Convincing herself that he was doing everything that he was because he was kind and he genuinely wanted to be nice to her. And for Natasha, again, keep in mind, she was only 10 years old when she was taken. This new reality of hers was so confusing. Not only because of how hot and cold pricklo pill was towards her and because of how quote unquote nice he was being to her in the beginning, but also because naturally the only thing that she could compare what she was living this new life, if you want to call it that, the only thing that she had to compare to that was of course her old life. And in her old life, remember I told you she struggled with mental health because of her mom. And Natasha was loved as a child, her parents did love her. But also the fact of the matter is that her mother was hard on her. She's described her to have been a brutal mother. And she's also said that she had a very hard time dealing with her parents divorce. And that whole situation left her feeling kind of alone and sometimes empty. So she went from being this little girl who felt like her mother never paid attention to her, to now living with this man whose sole purpose seemed to be to shower her with gifts and visit her and bring her food and give her attention. But she also knew at the end of the day that this man was her abductor so everything felt very confusing. And you can see how all of that combined could have affected the perception that Natasha had on the role that Priglopil played in her life. And like a lot of perpetrators in these cases, the most important thing to Priglo Pill was remaining in control. Whatever he said Natasha did. And because she would go along with it, Pricklepill eventually began to trust her more and more. And eventually he started to let her come out of the cellar and come upstairs and be in the actual house with him. There were still rules to follow, of course. Don't get me wrong. Every window shade had to remain closed, every curtain had to be closed, and every door was locked. When Natasha was allowed to come upstairs, she also had to keep this plastic bag over her head to make sure that none of her real hair fell onto the floor to further minimize the chances of anyone finding any, any trace of her inside of the house. She also wasn't allowed to touch anything so that her fingerprints wouldn't get on anything. But he would let her come upstairs and eventually he started to even take her with him outside of the house to run errands with him or just to get out and about and spend some time outside together. He once took her skiing for the day, and I think in total, he took her on 13, quote unquote day trips. But when she would be outside, by that point, Natasha had been so brainwashed and trained to be so scared of Prickle Pill that she wouldn't even consider trying to ask a stranger for help. First of all, because he was always right next to her, never losing sight of her, but also because of the things that he would tell her that would happen if she did try to escape or tell someone that she needed help. So anytime they would be outside, Natasha would just keep her head down, doing everything in her power to draw the least amount of attention onto her. Not to mention, since years had passed, Natasha had grown up and she no longer looked like the little girl that was on every single missing person's poster. So even if and when people reported sightings of Natasha to authorities, there was absolutely no way that somebody could say for sure that the person that they had seen was Natasha. And because no one, literally not a single person in the world, apart from her abductor, knew what she looked like anymore. So they would go out and then they would come back home and she would go right back into her cellar, locked in that tiny little room, away from the world. Taking a quick break to thank today's sponsor. I want to tell you guys a little bit more about Quins. If you listen to this podcast, you know how much I love them and there is a reason for that. Especially now in the summertime, I find myself going on their website almost daily. I don't want to admit that I'm on shopping websites that frequently, but if I'm going to admit it, I'm going to tell you that it is because of quints. I mean, it's just the perfect place to go to all year round because they don't only have their beautiful European linen pants that I know and love, they also offer dresses, tops. They offer so many different pieces, not even only clothing, also jewelry and pieces for your home. So many different things that you will reach to constantly, all summer long. So many different basic styles that you could dress up, you can dress down, you could wear on their own, or you could style them so many different ways. And the best part about it is that some of those start at just $32. I personally love their denim pieces because they're so incredibly soft, but they also have organic cotton, they have washable silk. I mean, they offer everything. And the best part about it is that they offer it without the traditional retail markup, meaning that everything at quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and they cut out the middleman. So you're paying for exceptional quality, not the brand markup. I can speak not only for Quince's beautiful fashion items, but also the jewelry items. If you have not tried it, if you have a birthday coming up, if you just feel like treating yourself, you should absolutely go to Quince. I promise you, you will not regret it. Make your summer wardrobe feel easier. Go to quince.com/wish for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's quite nce.com/wish for free Shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com/wish as Pricklopill began trusting Natasha more and more throughout the years, those small moments of freedom that he gave her came with an even darker cost. Because by the time that she was in her teenage years, the things that he did to her and demanded of her had turned physical. All while the psychological part of it also got progressively worse. Priclo Pill would intentionally physically hurt her. He would deny her from food for days at a time and he started bringing her upstairs to clean his house and do chores. And he would remind her that she was only allowed to speak when she was spoken to. He ended up installing an intercom in the cellar that he would then use to yell insults at her from his bedroom upstairs. And he did this all throughout the night to keep her awake as a form of torture. And even though Natasha has never gone into detail in regards to the essay that did eventually took place, she said in the book that she later went on to write. It's called 3096 Days in Captivity. It reads, quote, it wasn't about sex. He wanted to cuddle. I was something to hold tight to in the night, end quote. So he was absolutely terrible when he went through his bad moods and his frequent mood swings, yet he still experienced his, quote, unquote, good moods. And when he was in a good mood, he would talk to Natasha about what life could look like for them, about this life that he wanted to build together, that this life that he referred to as a normal life that they could potentially have together. He would talk to Natasha about them building a family, and he would bring up the idea of buying fake documents to give her a different identity for them to then go out and be able to exist in the real world together. He really, truly thought that the possibility of them becoming a family together in what, again, he called the normal world was a real one. This is a quote from Natasha herself when talking about this quote. I think he really trusted me. He was able to communicate with me to act out his illness. I think he wanted to create his own little perfect world with a person who could be there just for him. End quote. But no matter how many times he tried to blur the lines, Natasha knew exactly what she was, but which was a prisoner trying to survive. And early on, she made a promise to herself, telling herself that even though she was too young now, when she turned 18 years old, she would find enough confidence and strength and power within herself to escape. She told herself now that all she had to do was survive, take it day by day, doing what she was told, following the rules, until one day she would eventually have the courage to. To escape. Back at home, Natasha's mother did what she could to keep the hope alive, even though investigators started telling her to start thinking about a grave for Natasha, making it sound like there was absolutely no hope of her ever coming back home. Her mom continued to bake her cakes every single year on her birthday, trying to hold on to the idea that one day her daughter would come home. And it makes me so incredibly happy to say that one day she would. Natasha campus turned 18 years old, and she told herself that it was now or Never. She could not deal with Pricklopill anymore. She had had enough. She knew that he was someone who was mentally ill. She knew that he was someone that was very dangerous and that his illness was only getting worse. In her book, she wrote, quote, he became more and more erratic, and uncontrollably, his outbursts of rage became more frequent. He naturally blamed me and fell into an utterly paranoid, delusional state. End quote. So after her 18th birthday, she started coming up with a plan on how she was going to escape. And one day, August 23rd of 2006, when they were both out in the garden, Natasha was vacuuming his car as Pricklopill was watching her. And then he got a phone call and. And because of the vacuum, he wasn't able to hear it well, so he stepped away. Which was when Natasha noticed that the gate that led to the street was open. And she saw it. And she ran with everything inside of her. She started running frantically with tears running down her face, trying to flag down any stranger, begging them to call the police. The police was called, and Natasha told them everything. She told them about the room that she had been kept in for the last eight years, about the house. She was able to give them the exact address. She told them about the man. She told them about Priglo Pill. And she took the first breath of fresh air, finally relaxed, finally feeling like she was safe for the first time in years. And as you can imagine, authorities were absolutely shocked. And they rushed over to Pricklepill's house, and they didn't find him, but they found the room exactly where Natasha said that it would be, confirming that everything that she had told them was the truth. Within minutes after her escape, Priklopil had noticed that Natasha was gone. And he had decided to go to the nearest train tracks and lie down on them until a train ran completely over his head, ending his life. When Natasha's story broke in the media, it was everything that people were talking about. And while you did have the people that were over the moon for Natasha and for her family, that she had come back. Because this doesn't happen often, unfortunately, when someone is missing, let alone for eight years, it is not a common thing, sadly, to hear of their safe return back home. So while you had the people that were happy for her and looked at her as brave and strong and held a lot of respect for her, you also had the nasty side of the media, of people who were saying, oh, she was there for eight years and she didn't run away sooner because she must have liked her life as a victim. And because there were certain things that Natasha did not want to go public with, rightfully so, such as details of the essay and how bad things really were, the gross side of the media would start saying, oh, she must have not had it that bad. She must have enjoyed the life that she was living. Completely twisting the narrative of her own story. I mean, it's, it's gross. It really is absolutely insane to hear some of the thoughts that people have said in regards to this story. Completely victim blaming. I mean, it's absurd. I really have no words for it. People began sending letters to Natasha. Grown men writing these letters to her, trying to bribe her to come and live with them. It's so disturbing that with such a heroic story, a survival story, there are still disgusting people choosing to see the situation in sick ways that they choose to that that they want to. One of the letters she received, red quote, you could live with me and help with the housework. I'm offering board, wages and lodging. Although I'm married, I'm sure we'll find an arrangement. End quote. Like, yeah, I really have no words because how do you listen to a story such as hers and think, maybe now that her abductor is gone, I can make her my victim? It's sickening. It's beyond me. I. Yeah, no words. After her escaped. When she was asked about how she felt and about the fact that so many people now knew who she was and now knew her story and knew her face and recognized her, she said that she found it bothersome and disturbing, saying, quote, I knew when I was in the dungeon that the story would make me famous, but I thought it would be more of a positive experience like winning the Olympics. You're in the media space once people admire you and then it's over and done with. I never thought I'd meet so many unpleasantly curious people who refuse to keep their distance from me, who are uneducated. I have many personal complexes as well, so being such a well recognized figure just adds to that. End quote. Today, Natasha lives in Austria. She actually owns the house that she was once held captive in. She decided to purchase it after her escape to ensure that it wouldn't become this shrine of sorts or a museum that people could walk into and see. So she bought the house because she didn't want someone else to buy it and use it to sensationalize her story in the way that they wanted to. Especially after seeing such a sick and twisted narrative that some people of the public had already applied to her story, but she doesn't live in that house full time. She has worked as an author and she is now a public figure speaking publicly out about her experience, about trauma and about what recovery looks like. And she has said that she is no longer willing to be defined by what happened to her, but rather she chooses to be defined by how she chose to survive. I honestly have so much respect for her. I think that the way that she was treated, obviously, in those eight years is horrific. But the way that she was treated by people of the public who don't know her, who don't know the story, because there are details that she has kept to herself. And even if she did tell the story, you, there's no way of saying what life was really like unless you are the person that it happened to. So to listen to people say nasty, horrible things and to see the way that she was treated after the fact, yeah, it sucks. But I think she is so strong. I think that she is definitely an easy person to look up to. And I think that there's a lot to be learned from her and her story. But yeah, that is all from me today. Thank you for spending time with me today and for listening to Natasha's story. Hope everyone is having the best day. If not, go do something to make it the best day. Make somebody happy and I will see you in the next episode. Massive kiss on the forehead to every single one of you. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of I wish you were here. As a reminder, you can listen to this podcast anywhere. You got your podcast video version also available on YouTube. Love you.