Tearful reunion in Austria; new facts surface in Fritzl case

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The inhabitants of the quiet town are puzzled for how the Fritzl case could go undetected for so long as many more questions remain unanswered. How did Fritzl feed his captives- How were the babies born and cared for in a windowless dungeon- How his wife remained clueless for 24 years- And perhaps most importantly, what drove Fritzl to commit this barbaric act- And whether or not his wife Rosemarie had any role to play-

"It is very surprising that in a property like this where several parties live, nobody noticed that he was living a complete second life," said District Governor Hans-Heinz Lenze.

"How is it possible that no one knew anything for 24 years-" asked Anita Fabian, a teacher in Amstetten. "This was not possible without accomplices."

There is growing suspicion that Josef Fritzl could not have led his "double life" without the aid of accomplices.

"I never saw him with shopping bags," says Lina Angermeier (name changed), who lived in the same house as the incestuous father from 1996 to 1997. The 32-year-old said that, as a mother, she knows how much a family needs to live on. She finds it hard to imagine how Fritzl was able to maintain this double life for 24 years without being noticed.

"It could be that he smuggled groceries through the garage at the back of the house. It's difficult to see that part of the property," she admits.

Not just a brother of Elisabeth, but also one of her sisters, for a brief time, lived in the house. "They all seemed to get along well. The other kids came to visit a lot. Josef and Rosemarie were very loving and doted over their grandchildren. Elisabeth was portrayed as the black sheep of the family."

Lina Angermeier lived at that time in a small apartment on the first floor of the house with a view of the inner courtyard. She never went into the cellar, where the dungeon was hidden behind a secret door. "When I first looked at the apartment, Rosemarie told me there was no cellar space for tenants. I didn't mind," she said.

"I'm especially sorry for her as she really made a lot of sacrifices for the sake of her grandchildren. She certainly would have done something, had she known. Unless Josef had such a tight rein on her that she could never dare. In any case, she is the worst off now. For her, the shame is the greatest to have shared her life with a person like that," Angermeier said.

A local government official also said that Rosemarie Fritzl is in extremely bad shape. But the police is also battling who else could Josef have told, except for her- Who else could have been complicit in helping him lead a double life over decades- "It certainly wasn't the son," Christian B., who lived in the building at the start of 2000 said.

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