BRIGITTA Sirny's world turned cold when her little girl didn't come home from school one day – but her living nightmare was just beginning.
As the search for her ten-year-old daughter rumbled on over nine torturous years, she was subjected to cruel conspiracy theories surrounding the baffling 1998 disappearance.
The hunt for Austrian Natascha Kampusch dominated news bulletins across the globe and became one of the world's most high-profile missing person cases.
She had been snatched in broad daylight by Wolfgang Přiklopil, a technician who was in his 30s at the time and lived in his mum's house near Vienna.
Heartbroken Brigitta was made to suffer further when a former judge began to accuse her of killing her own daughter.
And speculation over her involvement continued even after Natascha, who is now 34 years old, managed to finally escape in 2006.
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In a new Channel 5 documentary, Girl In The Cellar, the mum opens up about how strangers would call her a murderer in the street, and how the claims even drove her to the brink of suicide.
Brigitta, now in her early 70s, tells the show: "The private investigator said I killed her and threw her in the lake. That made me even more upset.
"It was very hard to go through all that. I stood outside on the balcony and I wanted to jump.
"I wanted to end it all. Thank God I went back inside. But then I didn't go on the balcony for three months. It caused very deep wounds."
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Natascha's hell
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10On March 2, 1998, Natascha spotted Přiklopil waiting in his white van as she walked to school and thought he seemed odd.
“I thought I don’t want to pass him," she tells the documentary. "I thought ‘that’s strange, why is this person waiting there?’.
"It didn’t make sense. That’s when I wanted to switch to the other side of the road just to be safe. But then I thought ‘no, I have to do this’ so you can say, ‘Okay, you had the courage to walk past him.’”
When she went past him, he grabbed her, put her in the back of the van and sped off.
The kidnapper kept her in a cellar underneath the garage of his house near the outskirts of Vienna and tried to control all aspects of her life.
He sexually, physically and mentally abused her on a daily basis and tortured her into submission by withholding food from her for days.
Years into her ordeal, when she became a teenager, Přiklopil took her to sleep upstairs with him, but would tie her to a bed to try and stop her from escaping.
According to Natascha at this point, he thought they were husband and wife.
She tells the film: "He seemed to think it was his right to control me and use violence.”
Throughout her 3,096-day ordeal, she was made to believe there was no way out of her captivity and was told she would be killed if she ever tried to leave.
He also told her if she ever managed to escape, he would kill himself as she was "the most important part of his life".
Escape at last
When Přiklopil finally allowed her into other parts of the house after four years in the dungeon, Natascha was made to shave her head bald so she didn't leave any piece of DNA lying around,
In her desperation to end her suffering, Natascha even tried to kill herself.
Five years into her abduction, Přiklopil allowed her to accompany him in public, but kept a close eye on her to ensure she couldn't run away or reveal her identity.
But after eight-and-a-half years of torture and abuse, the evil kidnapper let his guard down while allowing Natascha to wash his car.
Even though she took her chance and made her escape on August 23, 2006, her nightmare – and her mother's – was far from over.
Relentless attacks
Brigitta heard the news about her daughter's daring escape while on a countryside holiday and could not contain her excitement.
She says: "I screamed so loudly that the whole farm came to see what had happened. The police picked me up to drive me to Vienna."
Recalling their emotional reunion, she adds: "I instantly recognise Natascha and she said: ‘I thought you would be old and wrinkled. But you’re still as pretty as ever.’
"Everybody around smiled. We hugged and held each other for a long time.”
Knowing he would be chased by police, Přiklopil made good on his promise the very day of Natascha's escape.
Escaping in his BMW, he was later found dead after throwing himself under a train near the Wien Nord station in Vienna.
Just when Brigitta thought her name had finally been cleared, her biggest detractor, Martin Wabl, launched a fresh slew of relentless attacks.
The former judge claimed that even if she had not kidnapped her daughter, he was convinced that she abused her and had sold her to a paedophile ring.
Wabl even dragged Brigitta and Natascha to court in an attempt to prove his theories.
Natascha, who had to give evidence during the trial, says: "It was mind-blowing because I learned about what people thought and it was horrible."
Her own account of her ordeal had been rubbished by conspiracists who believed she'd been with her abductor "voluntarily".
She has since slammed online trolls who have used slurs against Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine has been missing since 2007.
Fresh start
Eventually, Brigitta won a civil case against Wabl, with the judge ruling that he could no longer level any false allegations against her.
Reflecting on the experience, she said: "I always went through life and thought that people think and do as I think and do.
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"But I realised that the truth is different. I realised that a lot of people are sick. [They] have a sick mind."
The Girl in the Cellar: 8 Years Underground airs on January 17 at 10pm on Channel 5
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