List of long-term false imprisonment cases explained

This is a list of notable long-term false imprisonment cases.

Note: this list does not include prisoners of war or conflict.

Cases involving children imprisoned by relatives

• Alba Nidia Álvarez, Mariquita, Colombia, 25 years,^{[1] [2]} discovered in March 2009.
• "Anna", Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, United States, 6 years, discovered on 6 February 1938.
• Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, Solihull, West Midlands, England, 1 year, discovered in June 2020.^[3]
• Blanche Monnier, Poitiers, France, 25 years, discovered on 23 May 1901.^{[4] [5] [6]}
• Byron Anthony McCane II, Oklahoma, United States, 2 years, discovered in 1983.
• Drenthe hermits family of six children, Ruinerwold, the Netherlands, at least 9 years, discovered in October 2019.^{[7] [8]}
• Elisabeth Fritzl and her children, Austria, 24 years,^[9] discovered on 26 April 2008.
• Elizabeth Wesson, her sisters, her children, her nieces and her nephews, Fresno, California, US, 26 years, discovered on 12 March 2004.
• "Genie", Arcadia, California, United States, 13 years,^[10] discovered on 4 November 1970.
• Jeffrey Baldwin, Toronto, Canada, 4 years, discovered on 30 November 2002.^[11]
• Jürgen Bartsch, Langenberg, Germany, 6 years.^[12]
• Krystal Leigh Atkinson, Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, 35 years, discovered on 25th January 2020.
• "M" and her children, Moe, Victoria, Australia, 28 years, discovered in February 2007.
• "Laura" Mongelli, Turin, Italy, 25 years, discovered on 27 March 2009.
• Lucero case, Argentina, 20 years, discovered in May 2009.^{[13] [14]}
• Lydia Gouardo, Val-de-Marne, France, 28 years, discovered on 20 November 1999.^[15]
• Rader/Beighley case, Pennsylvania, United States, 1 year.^{[16] [17] [18]}
• Rosalynn McGinnis, Missouri, United States, 19 years, escaped in 2016.^[19]
• Sheffield incest case, UK, 25 years, discovered in November 2008.
• Schollenberger Case, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States, 10 years, discovered in May 2020.^[20]
• South Wales paternal sex abuse case, South Wales, UK, 20 years, discovered in October 2019.^{[21] [22] [23] [24]}
• Turpin case, Perris, California, United States, 29 years,^{[25] [26] [27]} discovered on 14 January 2018.
• Viktoria, Katharina, and Elisabeth (Linz sisters), Linz, Austria, 7 years.^[28]

Cases involving abducted children

• Jayme Closs, kidnapped after her parents' murder and held for 88 days, discovered on 10 January 2019.
• Murder of Sylvia Likens, a teenager tortured and repeatedly held captive in the basement by her caretaker and her children and their friends for three months, discovered on 26 October 1965.
• Jaycee Dugard, kidnappers Phillip and Nancy Garrido, Antioch, California, US, 18 years, discovered on 26 August 2009.^{[29] [30]}
• John Jamelske, serial rapist-kidnapper who, from 1988 to his apprehension in 2003, kidnapped a series of girls and women and held them captive in a concrete bunker beneath the yard of his home in DeWitt, a suburb of Syracuse, New York, USA. All five of his victims were from different ethnic origins and most from different age groups.
• Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, kidnapper Michael J. Devlin, Kirkwood, Missouri, US, 4 years, discovered on 12 January 2007.^[31]
• Tanya Nicole Kach, kidnapper Thomas Hose, McKeesport, Pennsylvania, US, 10 years, discovered on 21 March 2006.^{[32] [33] [34]}
• Natascha Kampusch, kidnapper Wolfgang Přiklopil, Vienna, Austria, 8 years, discovered on 23 August 2006.^[5]
• Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus, kidnapper Ariel Castro, Cleveland, Ohio, US, 9 to 11 years, discovered on 6 May 2013.^{[35] [36] [37]}
• Katya Martynova and Lena Samokhina, kidnapper Viktor Mokhov, Skopin, Ryazan, Russia, 3 to 4 years.^{[38] [39]}
• Anna Saito, kidnapper Kabu Terauchi, Higashi-Nakano, Tokyo, Japan, 2 years.^{[40] [41]}
• Fusako Sano, kidnapper Nobuyuki Satō, Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, 9 years, discovered on 28 January 2000.^[42]
• Santa Ana kidnapping accusation of 15-year-old girl, held by Isidro Garcia, Santa Ana, California, US, 10 years, discovered on 19 May 2014.^{[43] [44]}
• Elizabeth Smart, kidnappers Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, Salt Lake City, Utah, and San Diego County, California, US, 9 months, discovered on 12 March 2003.^[45]
• Steven Stayner, kidnappers Kenneth Parnell and Ervin Murphy, Merced, California, US, 7 years, discovered on 1 March 1980.^[46]

Cases involving sexual slavery of children

• Kidwelly sex cult
• Jeffrey Epstein
• Birmingham bathing cult
• Lambeth slavery case^[47]

Cases involving adults

• Kaspar Hauser, Nuremberg, Germany, 16 years.^[48]
• Marvin L. Maple, US, arrested in 2009 for kidnapping his grandchildren, 20 years earlier.
• Colleen Stan, US, an American woman who was kidnapped and held captive between 1977 and 1984.
• Alexander Komin, Vyatskiye Polyany, Kirov Oblast, Russia.^[49]
• Omar bin Omran, Algeria, held captive for 26 years.^[50]

Notes and References

1. Web site: The daughter of the Colombian monster. Semana. The daughter of the Colombian monster. 29 April 2009.
2. News: Colombia rocked by father-daughter incest case. Hugh. Bronstein. Reuters. 29 March 2009.
3. Web site: Mr Justice Wall - Sentencing Remarks. Regina v Emma Tustin & Thomas Hughes. . UK Courts and Tribunals Judiciary . en.
4. Web site: 5 January 2018 . Blanche Monnier was imprisoned in a tiny room for 25 years because her mother hated her choice of husband .
5. Web site: ObsoleteOddity . 12 November 2017 . The French Socialite Locked in her Attic for 25 Years ▭ Blanche Monnier (Narrated Version) . YouTube.
6. Web site: 6 February 2015 . The Miserable Imprisonment of Blanche Monnier - Mandatory .
7. Web site: De kinderen van Ruinerwold . 2023-04-29 . 2Doc.nl . nl.
8. Web site: Jongste kinderen Ruinerwold treden naar buiten. Lees hun verklaring hier: 'Ons leven was niet traumatisch, het jaar na de inval in de boerderij wel' . 2023-04-29 . Steenwijker Courant . nl-NL.
9. The Children of the Cellar. Bethany. Bell. Time. 2 May 2008. content.time.com.
10. Web site: Starved, tortured, forgotten: Genie, the feral child who left a mark on researchers. Rory. Carroll. 14 July 2016. the Guardian.
11. Web site: 8 September 2013 . Jeffrey Baldwin inquest: Toronto detective haunted by boy's starvation death . thestar.com.
12. Book: Miller, Alice . Pictures of Childhood . Farrar Straus Giroux . 1986 . New York.
13. Web site: Urgente24 - primer diario online con las últimas noticias de Argentina y el mundo en tiempo real . Urgente24 - primer diario online con las últimas noticias de Argentina y el mundo en tiempo real.
14. Web site: Argentina's Fritzl accused of fathering daughter's 7 kids .
15. Web site: 29 April 2008 . French incest victim says world ignored her plight .
16. Web site: Boy was being starved. www.sharonherald.com.
17. Web site: Police Charge Mom, Grandparents Of Starving, Beaten Child Who Ate Insects To Survive. 19 July 2014.
18. Web site: Starved, beaten, neglected boy released from hospital. EndPlay. 21 July 2014.
19. News: She was kidnapped by her stepfather as a child in Oklahoma, held captive 19 years. Then she escaped.. Burke. Minyvonne. NBC News. 13 June 2019. 9 April 2023.
20. Web site: NEWS POST: Couple Charged in the Torture and Murder of their 12 year old son Maxwell . CRIMEWATCH.
21. News: 18 October 2019 . Dad who raped daughters given 40-year term at Swansea Crown Court . en . BBC News . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20191019025309/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-50097310 . 19 October 2019.
22. News: Rahman . Khaleda . 11 October 2019 . Man Found Guilty of Raping Own Daughter, Fathering 6 Children Over 20-Year Period: One of the 'Worst Cases I Have Ever Had to Deal With,' Says Judge . en . Newsweek . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20191012224818/https://www.newsweek.com/man-found-guilty-raping-daughter-fathering-6-children-1464607 . 12 October 2019.
23. News: Brown . Lee . 13 October 2019 . DNA proved British pedophile fathered 6 kids with his own daughter . en . New York Post . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20191014050415/https://nypost.com/2019/10/13/dna-proved-british-pedophile-fathered-6-kids-with-his-own-daughter/ . 14 October 2019.
24. News: Yeo . Julia . 14 October 2019 . British man fathered 6 children with daughter, also guilty of raping his daughter's child . en . Mothership . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20191014175738/https://mothership.sg/2019/10/british-man-rape-daughter/ . 14 October 2019.
25. Web site: 13 captive siblings allowed to eat once a day, shower once a year . NBC.
26. Web site: Carly Sitzer . 18 January 2018 . Quiverfull: More Children For God's Army . 19 January 2018 . In Touch Weekly.
27. News: Schmidt . Samantha . Bever . Lindsey . 16 January 2018 . How a malnourished teen escaped a house full of chains and freed her 12 siblings . Washington Post .
28. Web site: Weaver . Matthew . 28 April 2008 . Austria's hidden nightmare . the Guardian.
29. Web site: Video: Jaycee Dugard: The Full Interview. ABC News.
30. Web site: Jaycee Dugard, Her Daughters Today, and if They Ever Want to See Their Father. 1 August 2016. ABC News.
31. Web site: Experts: Mo. boy was controlled by his captor. NBC News. 15 January 2007.
32. News: Woman, 24, Says Neighbor Held Her Captive for 10 Years. Ian. Urbina. The New York Times. 24 March 2006.
33. Web site: Story hits close to home for Tanya Nicole Kach, held captive in McKeesport.
34. Web site: Man: I Held Girl Captive for 10 Years. 26 June 2007. ABC News.
35. Web site: Cleveland Kidnapping Survivors Describe Life in Captivity. 29 April 2015. ABC News.
36. Web site: Michelle Knight's life after 11 years of captivity. Newsweek. 3 September 2015.
37. Web site: Cleveland Captive Changes Name, Distances Self From Captives. 2 May 2014. ABC News.
38. News: Inside the sex slaves' cell. Tom. Parfitt. 8 May 2004. The Daily Telegraph.
39. Web site: Free After 3 Years As Sex Slaves. CBS News.
40. News: Japanese teen escapes from two year kidnap ordeal. .
41. Web site: Man who held Japanese teen girl captive as 'experiment' is jailed. 12 March 2018. South China Morning Post.
42. Web site: Fusako Sano - Captive Humans. captivehumans.com.
43. News: California man charged with holding girl 10 years pleads not guilty. Reuters. 10 June 2014.
44. Web site: Man charged with kidnapping, raping teen in decade-long case. 22 May 2014.
45. News: END OF AN ABDUCTION: ORDEAL; In Plain Sight, a Kidnapped Girl Behind a Veil. Egan. Timothy. 14 March 2003. The New York Times. 27 March 2018. en-US. 0362-4331.
46. News: 2 CONVICTED IN '72 KIDNAPPING OF 7-YEAR-OLD CALIFORNIA BOY. AP. The New York Times. 7 January 1982.
47. News: How Chairman Mao of Brixton built his sect of 'slaves'. The Daily Telegraph.
48. Web site: The lingering legend of Kaspar Hauser: the semi-feral mystery child of Nuremberg.. 27 May 2014.
49. News: A Tale of Murder and Sex Slaves to Stun Dostoyevsky . The New York Times . 28 August 1997 . Stanley . Alessandra .
50. Web site: Algerian man found alive after 26 years in neighbour’s cellar . 2024-05-27 . www.bbc.com . en-GB.