French Connection (formerly known as London Connection)

It happened in Austria, 8 (!!!!) years ago. In 1998 a 10 year old girl got kidnapped in Vienna and despite extensive search, neither the family nor the authorities ever again knew from young Natascha Kampusch. Yesterday, at the age of 18, she managed to escape from the dungeon where she had been kept all these years. Her kidnappercommitted suicide the same day, just hours after he found his “prisoner” had escaped. It turned out the guy, Wolfgang Prikopil, a communications technician, was questioned after Natascha’s disappearance on her way to school as the owner of a white van. A school friend said she had seen Natascha getting into one the day she vanished. Now, you tell me if this guy does not look like a f*cking weirdo (here’s a pic, scroll down: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5284048.stm) …

Soul Asylum’s “Runaway Train” comes into my mind here… and the usual Shawshank quote du jour "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies".

Sad story with a “feel good” ending, sort of…Obviously no one will be able to make up for what this girl has gone through and its severe, I would assume, psychological consequences but she’s free now, in good condition according to reports, and hopefully she’ll eventually be able to enjoy the rest of her "new life"...

Here's some footage: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08/24/austria.missing/index.html

Labels: Random stuff