List of long-term false imprisonment cases

This is a list of notable long-term false imprisonment cases.

Cases involving children imprisoned by relatives

• Alba Nidia Álvarez, Mariquita, Colombia, 25 years,^[1][2] discovered in March 2009.
• "Anna", Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, United States, 6 years, discovered on 6 February 1938.
• Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, Solihull, West Midlands, England, 1 year, discovered in June 2020.^[3]
• Blanche Monnier, Poitiers, France, 25 years, discovered on 23 May 1901.^[4][5][6]
• Byron Anthony McCane II, Oklahoma, United States, 2 years, discovered in 1983.
• Drenthe hermits family of six children, Ruinerwold, the Netherlands, at least 9 years, discovered in October 2019.^[7][8]
• Elisabeth Fritzl and her children, Austria, 24 years,^[9] discovered on 26 April 2008.
• Elizabeth Wesson, her sisters, her children, her nieces and her nephews, Fresno, California, US, 26 years, discovered on 12 March 2004.
• "Genie", Arcadia, California, United States, 13 years,^[10] discovered on 4 November 1970.
• Jeffrey Baldwin, Toronto, Canada, 4 years, discovered on 30 November 2002.^[11]
• Jürgen Bartsch, Langenberg, Germany, 6 years.^[12]
• "M" and her children, Moe, Victoria, Australia, 28 years, discovered in February 2007.
• "Laura" Mongelli, Turin, Italy, 25 years, discovered on 27 March 2009.
• Lucero case, Argentina, 20 years, discovered in May 2009.^[13][14]
• Lydia Gouardo, Val-de-Marne, France, 28 years, discovered on 20 November 1999.^[15]
• Rader/Beighley case, Pennsylvania, United States, 1 year, discovered in June 2014.^[16][17][18]
• Rosalynn McGinnis, Missouri, United States, 19 years, escaped in 2016.^[19]
• "S", Waterbury, Connecticut, United States, 20 years, discovered on 17 February 2025.^[20][21]
• Sheffield incest case, UK, 25 years, discovered in November 2008.
• Schollenberger case, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States, 10 years, discovered in May 2020.^[22]
• South Wales paternal sex abuse case, South Wales, UK, 20 years, discovered in October 2019.^{[23][24][25][26]}
• Turpin case, Perris, California, United States, 29 years,^[27][28][29] discovered on 14 January 2018.
• Viktoria, Katharina, and Elisabeth (Linz sisters), Linz, Austria, 7 years.^[30]

Cases involving abducted children

• Jayme Closs, kidnapped after her parents' murder and held for 88 days, discovered on 10 January 2019.
• Murder of Sylvia Likens, a teenager tortured and repeatedly held captive in the basement by her caretaker and her children and their friends for three months, discovered on 26 October 1965.
• Jaycee Dugard, kidnappers Phillip and Nancy Garrido, Antioch, California, US, 18 years, discovered on 26 August 2009.^[31][32]
• John Jamelske, serial rapist-kidnapper who, from 1988 to his apprehension in 2003, kidnapped a series of girls and women and held them captive in a concrete bunker beneath the yard of his home in DeWitt, a suburb of Syracuse, New York, US. All five of his victims were from different ethnic origins and most from different age groups.
• Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, kidnapper Michael J. Devlin, Kirkwood, Missouri, US, 4 years, discovered on 12 January 2007.^[33]
• Florence Sally Horner, kidnapper Frank La Salle, Camden, New Jersey, US, 1 year 9 months, discovered on 22 March 1950.^[34]
• Tanya Nicole Kach, kidnapper Thomas Hose, McKeesport, Pennsylvania, US, 10 years, discovered on 21 March 2006.^[35][36][37]
• Natascha Kampusch, kidnapper Wolfgang Přiklopil, Vienna, Austria, 8 years, discovered on 23 August 2006.^[5]
• Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus, kidnapper Ariel Castro, Cleveland, Ohio, US, 9 to 11 years, discovered on 6 May 2013.^[38][39][40]
• Katya Martynova and Lena Samokhina, kidnapper Viktor Mokhov, Skopin, Ryazan, Russia, 3 to 4 years.^[41][42]
• Anna Saito, kidnapper Kabu Terauchi, Higashi-Nakano, Tokyo, Japan, 2 years.^[43][44]
• Fusako Sano, kidnapper Nobuyuki Satō, Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, 9 years, discovered on 28 January 2000.^[45]
• Santa Ana kidnapping accusation of 15-year-old girl, held by Isidro Garcia, Santa Ana, California, US, 10 years, discovered on 19 May 2014.^[46][47]
• 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.^[48]
• Steven Stayner, kidnappers Kenneth Parnell and Ervin Murphy, Merced, California, US, 7 years, discovered on 1 March 1980.^[49]
• 7-year-old girl kidnapped by a school bus driver in Medellin, Colombia, in early 2012. Escaped in February 2024 after being held captive for 12 years.^[50]

Cases involving sexual slavery of children

• Kidwelly sex cult
• Jeffrey Epstein
• Birmingham bathing cult
• Lambeth slavery case^[51]

Cases involving adults

• Kaspar Hauser, Nuremberg, Germany, 16 years.^[52]
• Marvin L. Maple, US, arrested in 2009 for kidnapping his grandchildren, 20 years earlier.
• Colleen Stan, US, an American woman who was kidnapped and held captive between 1977 and 1984.
• Alexander Komin, Vyatskiye Polyany, Kirov Oblast, Russia.^[53]
• Omar bin Omran, Algeria, held captive for 26 years, discovered on 12 May 2024.^[54]