What a wonderful, strong young woman this girl has turned into!    I've just read her statement to the press (see here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5293198.stm) - and I cannot but think that living in isolation with her captor has, if anything, made her a stronger person than she might otherwise have been.

She seems to know that she will have problems in the future, but she certainly seems to be in control at the moment.

Margot

I am watching the story with much interest.  I cannot help feel empathy for her family.  They desperately want their little girl back but unfortunately they lost her 10 years ago and will not get her back.  They have to try and adjust to the fact that they need to take time to get to know their grown up daughter who grew to have some type of relationship with the person that took her.  The statement seems to be saying that she refuses to be a victim which is at odds with how everyone feels.  It will be interesting to see how things develop but unfortunately I cannot see a happy ending for anyone involved.  It's one of those situations where you eventually end up having to draw a line under and move on if you can.

Is the story similar to the girl who was trapped in a celler (cant remember the name of it now), I think her name was Sinead or something like that??

Sounds like she has Stockholm Syndrome as she's said he was kind to her-kidnapping herr,locking her up & taking her childhood not what I would call a nice person- He killed himself didn't he ?

Although she says that she has no sympathy for her captor, that he didn't have to kill himself, she is showing classic signs of Stockholm syndrome, rejecting her parents, and not saying anything bad about her captor.   I think this is a form of self-preservation - if she says that she has had a terrible time during the past 8 years, it is tantamount to saying that her whole life has been terrible - its a case of saying its better makes it better.

I think to myself, how could I cope if my daughter had been kidnapped?   I shudder to think

Margot

Poor girl must be still very confused!  Whatever went on during the past eight years, she may be feeling guilty about and may be blaming herself!  Maybe she can't face her parents for that reason.  It is all speculation though at the moment isn't it?

There are apparently a number of things that could be happening to her, she may have Stockholm Syndrome so she empathises with her captor, she may also blame her parents for abandoning her.  When she was first taken she would expect her parents to come and get her.  Parents generally when we are children are our protectors, they help us when we are hurt, can't cope etc etc.  When she realised they were not going to rescue her she may well have felt abandoned by them and turned against them.  So rather than blaming herself she may well have come to blame them.

Of course, I never thought about it from that point of view!