Natascha Kampusch bade farewell to the remains of the man who held her in a small cell for eight years, before his mother buried him under a false name today, Austrian police said.
Wolfgang Priklopil committed suicide by jumping under a train after 18-year old Kampusch dashed to freedom on August 23rd. He snatched the freckle-faced child on her way to school in 1998 and kept her in a windowless enclosure beneath his garage.
"Kampusch came with her carers to the forensic department in Vienna yesterday," Helmut Greiner, a spokesman for Vienna criminal police. "She had a few minutes by herself with the coffin to say goodbye."
"He was buried this morning in a cemetery south of Vienna, but the exact location will remain secret," said Greiner, adding that the tomb also bore a false name.
"His mother was there for the funeral."
Police said they sealed off the cemetery during the funeral to prevent more of the media frenzy the case has sparked.
The extraordinary denouement of one of Austria's most notorious crimes has riveted international audiences. Kampusch's face and the testimony of her years of hunger, agony and loneliness filled evening news and newspapers around the globe.
In her first interviews since her escape, she declined to elaborate on her captor, a 44-year old communications technician she called the "criminal", citing respect for his mother.