AMSTETTEN, Austria (CNN) -- Austrian police believe a 73-year-old man held his daughter captive in his cellar for the past two decades and fathered at least six children with her , according to police and state-run news reports Sunday.

The woman, identified as 42-year-old Elisabeth F., has been missing since 1984 when she was 18 years old, police said at a news conference.The situation came to light earlier this month after her daughter -- a 19-year-old woman, identified as Kristen F. -- was hospitalized afterfalling unconscious, according to police. She was admitted to a hospital in Amstetten, outside Vienna, by her grandfather with a note from her biological mother requesting help. But police said a DNA test later revealed her grandfather, Josef F., was also her father, according to ORF, Austria's state-run news agency. That sparked a police investigation which revealed that Josef F. may have fathered at least six children with his daughter, forcing her and three of the surviving children to live in the cellar of his house, according to ORF's Peter Schmitzberger. The children are now between the ages of 5 and 19 years old.

Police are awaiting DNA tests to verify their relationship to Josef F., who faces arrest for "severe crimes against family members," according to police. So far, he has not given a statement to police. "One can't imagine how it could happen, how nobody could realize anything of what was going on in the cellar of this house," Schmitzberger told CNN. "It's quite unimaginable."

Acting on "a confidential tip," Amstetten police apprehended Josef F. and Elisabeth F. on Saturday near the hospital for questioning, according to a police statement. Once police assured the daughter that she would never have contact with her father again, "she was able to tell the whole story," Schmitzberger said. Josef F. lived upstairs with his wife, Rosemarie F., who police said had no idea about her husband's other family living in the cellar. Josef F. and Rosemarie F. had adopted three of the children that he had with his daughter, according to police. He told his wife that his missing daughter had dropped the unwanted children off at the house because she could not take care of them, police said. The other three children -- Kerstin, 19; Stefan, 18; and Felix, 5 -- remained locked in the basement with their mother, according to police. None had seen the light of day during their entire time in captivity, police said.

After she was detained on Saturday, Elisabeth F. gave police a "psychologically and physically disturbed impression," police said in a statement. She told them her story after she was assured her children would be protected from further harm. She said her father began sexually abusing her at age 11. On August 8, 1984 -- weeks before she was reported missing -- her father enticed her into the basement where he drugged her, put her in handcuffs, and locked her in a room, she told police.

For the next 24 years , she was constantly raped by her father resulting in the six surviving children, she said, according to the police statement. She told police she gave birth to twins in 1996, but one of the babies died a few days later as a result of neglect, and Josef F. removed the infant's body and burned it . She told police that only her father supplied her and her children with food and clothing, and that she did not think his wife knew anything about their situation.

When Kerstin fell ill earlier this month, Josef F. apparently told his wife and the hospital that his "missing" daughter had dropped off the sick girl on his doorstep. In an effort to find out what might be ailing 19-year-old Kerstin, the hospital asked the media to put out a bulletin requesting any information about the girl or her missing mother, attorney general Gerhard Sedlacek told NTV.Sometime later, Josef F. brought Elisabeth F. out of the cellar, telling his wife that she had returned home with her two children after a 24-year absence, police said. He took Elisabeth F. to the hospital to talk with doctors about Kerstin's condition, and at that point,authorities became aware of her situation, Sedlacek said.

What kind of person does this and for 24 years, oh my God.

I don't by the wife not knowing anything :

wow.. some really interesting things happen in this world.....
wow...

how could the wife not have known peopel lived in her own house downstairs?? she didnt know the cellar existed??
ahn belive this

The news say that he took 3 of the children and they were living upstairs, normal lives, but didn't know that their mom and siblings were downstairs...

He told the police that his daughter was in a cult and had been sending letters begging him not to look for her.

candygirl wrote:

how could the wife not have known peopel lived in her own house downstairs?? she didnt know the cellar existed?? ahn belive this

girl no way i could have lived in that house for years and not know whats downstairs in the basement. no way. esp if my dad or whoever acting secretive about the basement.

As a wife she didn't even question it at all or thought it was strange for the daughter to just drop off the kids and not talk to her after "being" missing all that time?
Plus she didn't hear no noise, no nothing....no baby crying self

I also wonder how old were the 3 kids he brought home.

That the kind of world we live in. Strange things alway happenning....

UPDATE:


AMSTETTEN, Austria (CNN) -- A 73-year-old man has confessed to holding his daughter captive in his home cellar for nearly 24 years and fathering seven children by her, Austrian police say.

Austrian police spokesman Franz Polzer told CNN, the man, known as Mr. F., admitted holding his daughter hostage in a windowless cell in the basement of his home for more than two decades. Mr. F. told police that one of the children he fathered with his daughter Elisabeth F. was a twin who died. Mr. F. also admitted he burned the body of the dead child in an oven inside the house , according to Polzer.

Further DNA tests will now be carried out to confirm fatherhood, Polzer said. Elisabeth F., 42, is described as "very disturbed" and having trouble talking to police about her ordeal, reports CNN correspondent Fred Pleitgen. She went missing in 1984, when she was 18 years old, police said at a news conference Sunday.

Detectives made the grim discovery about the cellar earlier this month after her daughter -- a 19-year-old woman, identified as Kristen F. was hospitalized in Amstetten after falling unconscious. She was taken to a hospital in Amstetten, outside Vienna, by her grandfather with a SOS note from her mother hidden on her.

A DNA test was later carried out which revealed her grandfather, Mr. F., was also her father, according to ORF, Austria's state-run news agency. That sparked a police investigation, which revealed that Mr. F. fathered at least six children with his daughter, forcing her and three of the surviving children to live in the cellar of his house, according to ORF's Peter Schmitzberger.


On Sunday, police searched the hidden rooms where Mr. F. admitted he kept his daughter and their children. The rooms included sleeping quarters, a kitchen and a bathroom, which Mr. F. told police he built, Polzer said.

Conditions in the 50-60 square meters cellar were described as "very dark, narrow and damp, " reports Pleitgen from Amstetten, a rural town about 150 km (93 miles) west of Vienna. Investigators say an electronic keyless-entry system and soundproof door apparently kept the woman from escaping the cell, which was constructed of reinforced concrete. Elisabeth F. told police that she and her three children Kerstin, 19; Stefan, 18; and Felix, 5, did not see the light of day during their entire time in captivity.

Amstetten police say they were put on Mr. F.'s trail following an anonymous tip off. They apprehended the pair on Saturday near the hospital and once police assured the daughter that she would never have contact with her father again, "she was able to tell the whole story," Schmitzberger said. Elisabeth F. gave police a "psychologically and physically disturbed impression," police said in a statement.

She said her father began sexually abusing her at age 11. On August 8, 1984 -- weeks before she was reported missing -- her father enticed her into the basement, where he drugged her, put her in handcuffs and locked her in a room, she told police. For the next 24 years, she was constantly raped by her father, resulting in the six surviving children, she said, according to the police statement.

She also told police she gave birth to twins in 1996, but one of the babies died a few days later as a result of neglect, and Mr. F. removed the infant's body and burned it. She told police that only her father supplied her and her children with food and clothing, and that she did not think his wife knew anything about their situation

Mr. F. lived upstairs with his wife, Rosemarie F., who police said had no idea about her husband's other family living in the cellar. Mr. F. and Rosemarie F. had adopted three of the children that he had with his daughter, according to police. He told his wife that his missing daughter had dropped the unwanted children off at the house because she could not take care of them, police said.

When Kerstin fell ill earlier this month, Mr. F. apparently told his wife and the hospital that his "missing" daughter had dropped off the sick girl on his doorstep. In an effort to find out what might be ailing 19-year-old Kerstin, the hospital asked the media to put out a bulletin requesting any information about the girl or her missing mother, attorney general Gerhard Sedlacek told NTV.

Sometime later, Mr. F. brought Elisabeth F. out of the cellar, telling his wife that she had returned home with her two children after a 24-year absence, police said. He took Elisabeth F. to the hospital to talk with doctors about Kerstin's condition, and at that point, authorities became aware of her situation, Sedlacek said.

Shocked residents of the neighborhood, a tidy, middle-class district, said there there were no outward signs of the atrocities inside what the media has dubbed the 'House of Horrors.' The suspect "was friendly -- that's why this is so unbelievable," said Franz Redl, 56, who owns a shop across the street. "I'm sure the authorities did all they could. He planned everything so perfectly," he told The Associated Press.

While a woman identified as Gabriele H. told Austria's Kurier newspaper she thought Mr. F. was a devoted grandfather doing his best to look after his abandoned grandchildren. "One who looks after their grandchildren whilst their mother just ran away. We were all asking ourselves what kind of mother would do that to their children?," she said. Another local, Berhard E , who lives opposite the family, told Kurier: "I am appalled, this is unimaginable and simply not comprehensible."

Mr. F. and I grew up together" said Erika Manhalter who lives a few meters away from their house. "We thought this would be a family just like others, but you cannot look through people," she told Kurier. Hans-Heinz Lenze, a senior local official, told AP Mr. F.'s wife apparently had "no idea" of what went on and was devastated. "You have to imagine that this woman's world fell apart," he said.