Why is the case so famous?

There were such cases all over the world, like the infamous case of the kidnap of Fusako Sano from Japan, many cases of kidnaps from the USA and so on, nevertheless those don't get that much of media coverage for whole YEARS. Even the slaves from Cleveland aren't mentioned as often and I bet when the last two women publish their book, they won't get that much of media coverage any more - not to such an extent. Anyway, the women of Castro get so much of it mostly because it was such a drastic case of abuse, which didn't happen in case f Kampusch. The fact she was the first case like that in Austria, doesn't explain everything - in my home country of Poland also there were cases of crimes that were one of their kind but after the big fuss about those in our media, not that much attention is paid to the people involved in them, afterwards - even if people do know a lot about them. Like the infamous case of the "abduction" of baby Magda, which in turn afterwards turned out to be just a murder commited on the baby by her mother who faked an abduction. She's in prison now so no wonder she isn't in the media any more but her husband and the whole rest of the family aren't, nevertheless they are like forgotten by them. Or the kidnap and murder of Krzysztof Olewnik, an adult son of a wealthy businessman. Or the mysterious disappearance of Iwona Wieczorek (we finally got our adult "Maddie"). There were also many more smaller scale crimes, like the Zielona Gora city rapist (made up by his "victims") or some deeply religious murderer who burned his house with his whole family inside. Or - from my town - a man set fire on his daughter in law. After some time the media get bored with those. And Kampusch is everywhere. Any article on kidnaps touches this case.

I realize it was indeed a VERY rare occurance - to find someone kept prisoner for so long - but still, it was a very unusual thing at the same time that she became SO famous to me. Even if she decided to tell her story in the media. I would think that after some time people's interest in her story would just fade, but no. I get the feeling she doesn't appear in the media much, now - nad that's good :) I don't think anyway, she has the right sort of personality for being a celebrity - she mentions in her book she was a shy child with a low self-esteem and people don't change - shy as a kid, you are more or less shy as an adult.

I can't speak only from the perspective of Poland but I think in the USA she's very famous, as well. Here everybody knows her name - and almost no one believes her. And this is due to the contraditions and omissions that appear in her story. All those American cases don't attract that much of attention as Natascha the Liar. The kidnapped are heard of in the media only practically when a new case like that pops up and they give advice to their fellow kidnapped folks. Like Jaycee Dugard or Shawn Hornbeck aka "Even a Bigger Liar" aka "A Runaway Kid" Hornbeck - you don't hear about them much.






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Common? You've got to be kidding me.
There may be as many as 10 notable cases of this worldwide..I'd hardly call that common. It still gets notoriety because it's such a horrific but psychologically complicated crime.

I would think it's nearly impossible for anyone, at such a young age, to be kidnapped and isolated entirely with the perpetrator for so many years and not have their feelings about the perpetrator be very complex and hard to define, regardless of how well or badly they are treated. The Stockholm syndrome was recognized years ago from over the course of adults held hostage for 5 days; much less such a long duration in the formative years when children are so pliable..
I urge all of you that want to blame the victim to do some research on the Stockholm syndrome.

These cases are all famous because it's still so unimaginable for a child to be robbed of their childhood for so many years. And that the perp got away with it.
The only positive is that it may give some parents hope that their missing child may still be out there somewhere.