Josef Fritzl, this 73 year old retired electrician from a small Austrian town called Amstetten, near Vienna, was recently discovered to have imprisoned his own daughter in the basement of his apartment building for 24 years and fathered up to 7 of her children. One child died in infancy and was hurled into the furnace, while half of the remaining children, aged between 5 to 19 years old, have never seen sunlight before up until the time they were freed just a few days ago .

His daughter, Elisabeth, now 42, was believed to had ran away and joined a cult back in 1984. No one knew, not even Josef’s wife, that for almost a quarter of a century, Elisabeth was actually in the building’s windowless, padded cellar, locked behind an electronic keyless-entry system. Questions are now raised as to how this could have been kept a secret for such a long time. Surely someone knew…?! The cruel imprisonment came to light only after one of the ’secret children’ had gotten very ill and was taken to the hospital. A publicly appeal for her mother to come forward to help diagnose the condition of the child led to a tip off sent to the police. Three of the other children were earlier ‘adopted’ by Josef and his wife who claimed they were left at their doorsteps in 1993, 1994 and 1997.

This image from BBC News was made using descriptions given by Austrian police: