KIDNAP-ORDEAL TEEN READY TO START NEW LIFE

Natascha Kampusch, the Austrian girl forced to grow up alone in the hands of kidnapper, Wolfgang Priklopil, enjoyed the company of people her own age as cops gathered evidence from her tiny cell under a house.  Natascha escaped, eight years after her abduction at age 10.  Priklopil, 44, committed suicide by throwing himself under a train after Natascha fled August 24.  The girl, now 18, vanished in Vienna on her way to school on March 2, 1998, triggering a massive search that extended into neighboring Hungary.

Natascha says she is recovering from her ordeal and is ready to move on.  In principal, I already feel strong enough for the outside world, she said.  I am robust and it is getting better from day to day.

(Vienna, Austria)