On August 28, 1984, 18-year-old Elisabeth Fritzl went missing. Her mother Rosemarie hastily filed a missing-persons report, frantic over the whereabouts of her daughter. For weeks there was no word from Elisabeth, and her parents were left to assume the worst. Then out of nowhere, a letter arrived from Elisabeth, claiming she had grown tired of her family life and run away.

Her father Josef told policeman who came to the house that he had no idea where she would go, but that she likely joined a religious cult, something she had talked previously about doing.

But the truth was that Josef Fritzl knew exactly where his daughter was: she was about 20 feet below where the police officer was standing.