Natascha Maria Kampusch (born 17 February 1988) is an Austrian woman who was kidnapped on 2 March 1998. She was held in a secret cellar by her kidnapper for over eight years until she escaped on 23 August 2006. Media attention then led to Natascha giving certain interviews and writing an autobiography. Her abductor later killed himself when he jumped in front of a suburban train in Vienna; he had apparently planned the killing of himself rather than be caught by police, and had told Kampusch he would not be arrested alive.