This is a list of notable long-term false imprisonment cases.
Cases involving children imprisoned by relatives Turpin case, Perris, California, United States, 29 years, discovered on 14 January 2018. Lydia Gouardo, Melun, France, 28 years, discovered on 20 November 1999. "M" and her children, Moe, Victoria, Australia, 28 years, discovered in February 2007. Mirella case, Świętochłowice, Poland, 27 years, discovered in July 2025. Elizabeth Wesson, her sisters, her children, her nieces and her nephews, Fresno, California, US, 26 years, discovered on 12 March 2004. Blanche Monnier, Poitiers, France, 25 years, discovered on 23 May 1901. Sheffield incest case, England, 25 years, discovered in November 2008. Alba Nidia Álvarez, Mariquita, Colombia, 25 years, discovered in March 2009. Mongelli case, Turin, Italy, 25 years, discovered on 27 March 2009. Elisabeth Fritzl and her children, Amstetten, Austria, 24 years, discovered on 26 April 2008. Paola Lucero, Mendoza, Argentina, 20 years, discovered in May 2009. South Wales paternal sex abuse case, Wales, 20 years, discovered in October 2019. "S", Waterbury, Connecticut, United States, 20 years, discovered on 17 February 2025... Rachael and Lisa Smart, Palm Springs, California, United States, 19 years, discovered in 1998. Rosalynn McGinnis, Poteau, Oklahoma, United States, 19 years, escaped in 2016. Piotr Kurek, Warsaw, Poland, 18 years, discovered on 21 August 1931. "Genie", Arcadia, California, United States, 13 years, discovered on 4 November 1970. Schollenberger case, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States, 10 years, discovered in May 2020. Drenthe hermits family of six children, Ruinerwold, Netherlands, at least 9 years, discovered in October 2019. Viktoria, Katharina, and Elisabeth, Linz, Austria, 7 years. "Anna", Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, United States, 6 years, discovered on 6 February 1938. Jürgen Bartsch, Langenberg, Germany, 6 years, captivity ended in November 1952. Jeffrey Baldwin, Toronto, Canada, 4 years, discovered on 30 November 2002. Siders case, Hamden, Ohio, United States, 4 years, discovered on July 1, 2026. Byron Anthony McCane II, Kaw City, Oklahoma, United States, 2 years, discovered in 1983. Rader/Beighley case, Greenville, Pennsylvania, United States, 1 year, discovered in June 2014. Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, Solihull, West Midlands, England, 1 year, discovered in June 2020.
Cases involving abducted children Sylvia Likens, a teenager tortured and repeatedly held captive in the basement by her caretaker and her children and their friends for three months in Indianapolis, US, discovered on 26 October 1965. Jaycee Dugard, kidnappers Phillip and Nancy Garrido, Antioch, California, US, 18 years, discovered on 26 August 2009. John Jamelske, serial rapist-kidnapper who, from 1988 to 2003, kidnapped a series of teenage girls and women and held them captive in a concrete bunker beneath the yard of his home in DeWitt, New York. Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, kidnapper Michael J. Devlin, Kirkwood, Missouri, US, 4 years, discovered on 12 January 2007. Sally Horner, kidnapper Frank La Salle, Camden, New Jersey, US, 1 year 9 months, discovered on 22 March 1950. Jayme Closs, kidnapper Jake Thomas Patterson, held for 88 days, discovered on 10 January 2019. Tanya Nicole Kach, kidnapper Thomas Hose, McKeesport, Pennsylvania, US, 10 years, escaped on 21 March 2006. Natascha Kampusch, kidnapper Wolfgang Přiklopil, Vienna, Austria, 8 years, discovered on 23 August 2006. Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus, kidnapper Ariel Castro, Cleveland, Ohio, US, 9 to 11 years, discovered on 6 May 2013. Katya Martynova and Lena Samokhina, kidnapper Viktor Mokhov, Skopin, Russia, 3 to 4 years. Anna Saito, kidnapper Kabu Terauchi, Tokyo, Japan, 2 years. Fusako Sano, kidnapper Nobuyuki Satō, Kashiwazaki, Niigata, Japan, 9 years, discovered on 28 January 2000. Santa Ana kidnapping accusation of 15-year-old girl, held by Isidro Garcia, Santa Ana, California, US, 10 years, discovered on 19 May 2014. Elizabeth Smart, kidnappers Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, Salt Lake City, Utah, and San Diego County, California, US, 9 months, discovered on 12 March 2003. Steven Stayner, kidnappers Kenneth Parnell and Ervin Murphy, Merced, California, US, 7 years, discovered on 1 March 1980. 7-year-old girl kidnapped by a school bus driver in Medellín, Colombia, 12 years, escaped in February 2024. Kaspar Hauser, Nuremberg, Germany, 16 years, released 26 May 1828.
Cases involving sexual slavery of children Birmingham bathing cult Kidwelly sex cult Lambeth slavery case
Cases involving adults Catharina Ulrika Hjort af Ornäs, Falun, Sweden, 33 years, discovered after 11 January 1837 Colleen Stan, kidnappers Cameron and Janice Hooker, Red Bluff, California, US, 7 years, discovered August 1984 Vera Talpayeva, Tatyana Melnikova, Yevgeny Shishov, Tatyana Kozikokova, Tatyana Nazimova, and Irina Ganyushkina, kidnappers Aleksandr Komin and Aleksandr Mikheev, Vyatskiye Polyany, Russia, 2 years, Ganyushkina escaped on 21 July 1997 Omar bin Omran, Djelfa, Algeria, 26 years, discovered on 12 May 2024. Josefina Rivera, Sandra Lindsay, Lisa Thomas, Deborah Dudley, Jacqueline Askins, Agnes Adams, kidnapper Gary M. Heidnik, four months to one day, Philadelphia, US, escaped on 24 March 1987 Zhang "Moumou", Zhang "Xuanxuan", Duan "Moumou", Jiang "Moumou", Cai "Moumou" and Ma "Moumou", kidnapper Li Hao, Luoyang, China, 21 to 2 months, Ma escaped on 3 September 2011 Philadelphia basement kidnapping, US, 12 years, discovered on 17 October 2011
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