'Missing' schoolgirl hid in boyfriend's closet for 5 years | 60 Minutes Australia

[Music] for nearly five years Natasha Ryan hid from the world she saw no one went nowhere except here to the beach and then only rarely and only at night when we went to the beach we'd sit here and stare at the sky the night sky but thunderstorms boiling stones at 18 attaches a curious mix of woman and girl intensely self-conscious one moment playfully childlike the next I feel free I feel really excited that I don't have to hide anymore Natasha's family and friends had given her up for dead then a fortnight ago she reappeared very much alive not surprisingly her last year's came under extraordinary even international scrutiny so many people find it hard that you would put your family through so much pain that if you really loved them that you could never do this to them how could you do this to them will you ever be able to come to terms with it did you ever try to contact them yeah I did I'd pick up the phone to call them but I'll creep speaked did you ever think just to send them a note just to say you're alive to end their anguish I did why didn't you do it When Natasha went missing in August 1998 she was just 14 years old and she went with her boyfriend Skott black who was 22 contrary to all the rumors she wasn't pregnant she wasn't a drug addict but she was distressed overwhelmed by her parents divorce and problems at school I just felt angry and everybody and everything and I didn't want to be it's good I didn't want to be at home I didn't want to be there in that life what made you decide that he couldn't go home I was really scared of the consequences I thought that I would have been sent to prison I thought that I would be in sent away either to prison or to a bad place I just like to know why you know I don't feel that there was anything that could not be sorted out and I didn't realize that she was in the state she was in when she did run away so what kind of cleaning can you do now doing everything my house Natasha's mom Jenny is getting to know her daughter again after all she's missed out on a quarter of Natasha's life just basic they're starting slowly awkwardly but the hard questions are sure to come soon at the moment I don't trust her she's got to regain that trust as for forgiving her probably could figure but never forget what has Natasha done that's hurt you the most that hurt me the most would be running away that day like it last time I seen Natasha prior to this I dropped her off school she leant over she gave me a kiss since and I love you yeah however if a person loved you so much how can they put you through that much pain Natasha had arranged for her boyfriend Skott to pick her up here it was her last moment of freedom for nearly five years everything just snowballed everything just got out of hand so the most important decision of a 14 year olds life it turns out to be the wrong one is it hard at all coming back to this what makes that hard the fact that I wish I could turn back to this day and changing Payne you can't imagine the pain that you know can't put it into words you know like every day of thinking about the person wondering what they'd be doing today you know how they would look today he just people say time you know time heals but in this kind of time then they help healed anything it just the longer it got the worse it got what's it like coming back here it strange in what way seeing the house for the first time for the first four years Natasha hid here in the town of upon just 45 minutes drive from her family in Rockhampton so good memories or bad memories good memory but it was a life of total isolation never seeing anyone never speaking to anyone except Scott so do you think of it as a prison or do you think of it as a home as a home you sure I'm sure remarkably the neighbours had no idea what was going on they thought Scott the unassuming milkman lived here on his own obviously a lot has been made that you're a child and he's an adult did you feel that you were making these choices yourself yes see you were a runaway you weren't a captive yeah but psychologically to accept that maybe he had control over you so you wanted to be there I did and you wanted to live that way 19 but Natasha's life was about to become even more complicated police charged this man an alleged serial killer called Leonard Fraser with her murder I was stunned I thought it was a joke I really did either or was some sick joke I didn't believe it I thought it was some way to get me to come back when the truth sank in Natasha knew she had to do something finally a month ago she made an anonymous plea to the kids helpline I said that I was that I left her and that I was living with somebody and that somebody had been charged I'm a murderer and that I was incredibly scared to go back home and that I wanted to go back home and I wasn't sure how by now Natacha and Scott were back in Rockhampton living less than five minutes from her mother's place somehow someone discovered their secret and tipped off police natasha Ryan was about to come back to life where were you were you concealed this is where police found her just sitting there just sitting there what was your reaction when they open the doors it's the notorious cupboard where according to many reports natasha has spent much of her time in hiding I didn't say anything I was just shaking and so you certainly didn't want to be found at that point no not like that no so let's get it straight did you spend hours in this cupboard alone when the police found it no but you did spend hours in this room when they were visitors a maximum of an hour yes after the discovery another tense encounter a reunion this mother never dreamed possible I just didn't want to see her I I honestly didn't I hated her I could have grabbed it and just shocked the hell out of her but when I see now if you get all you know and she looked at me and she just said to me I'm sorry yeah enchantee is wronged in her eyes she says a part of her didn't want to see you she hated you did any part of you not want to see her old me wanted to see her I had my reservations but a horny ones here and still to this day you pinch yourself to see whether it's real I just I still don't believe it now Natasha has a lot of catching up to do her little brother Chris was only six when she last saw him she's missed birthdays funerals and weddings and she's not smoking near me armed with that confetti 18 months ago her older sister Donna was married and Natasha should have been a bridesmaid that's a nice bed I could imagine whatever goes wrong I couldn't feel without going through that seeing now what they haven't gone through out I can't believe this okay so if you put the last four and a half years into some sort of context then how would you describe the last one a half years of your life difficult it was hard it was hard to be away from my family how long it was hard to be secluded that long but it couldn't have all been bad because it wasn't no it wasn't all bad we made a home we made our own little home and we were happy and this is that happy little home heavy curtains to keep out prying eyes a big TV as you can see we got a lot of videotapes a home gym so this is how you kept fit is it yeah how many hours a day would you spend on this man now friends who would never betray their secrets just think about the life this girl led no Sun no grass her world for nearly five years was within four walls there was no school so she studied German on the Internet she couldn't go shopping for clothes so she learnt to sew but I mean I spend a day in the house and I go stir-crazy didn't you just want to get out yeah I felt like that a lot so what stopped you it's the fact that I'm not be seen I was always scared that somebody would see me that recognized me were you worried for your own sake or your workforce God's sake by the twist now is that while Natasha's emerged from her isolation Scott's pretty much in hiding it seems he's the main target of the police investigation he could face charges of child stealing even perjury and that could mean some serious jail time his lawyers are telling him to say nothing and to stay away from the woman he's shared the last four and a half years with Scott gave me rings one time today Natasha's understandably coy about her relationship with Scott but clearly they were more than just good friends would you like to be married to Scott I think so yes one day you've seen your sister's wedding photos would you like to have a gala event like that one day I think every girl secretly does I do yes while Natasha sees it as a love story here in Rockhampton they're less romantic sleazy and scandalous were some of the more repeatable adjectives especially after she sold the story to 60 minutes and woman's day is there any sympathy with in this community for her I haven't heard any at this stage from anybody I've spoken to local emergency services boss Lyle Dobbs led the team of volunteers who spent thousands of hours searching for Natasha has certainly been a massive waste of community resources and it's one of these things that need not have happened the whole thing I believe should have been stopped a lot sooner than it then it was she could have come forward a lot sooner since her return natasha has been severely criticized for wasting taxpayers money she hid while the cost of her search was an astronomical half-a-million dollars also the headlines screamed but it is important for a bit of perspective the huge hunt for Natasha Ryan didn't begin until two years after her disappearance and the police were searching the bodies of a number of missing women from Rockhampton to shore up their case against a suspected serial killer now at the time Natacha didn't know about the search she certainly didn't know about the possibility of a serial killer what do you think should happen to you beat up the bomb sounds all right a lot of people would say that that's enough do you believe you should go to jail hmm that's a hard one and I do believe I deserve to go to chow I do not want to go to jail but I do deserve I do deserve to be severely punished bought off time I don't want challenges brought against my daughter however if that's what she has to do in order to rectify the situation that's fine but I don't want to another two years for her live in jail because they're stupid mistakes she made when she was forward here I couldn't hate that anyway guys here's to our first dinner together my keys the legalities of the Natasha Ryan saga are expected to be sorted out in the next month or so but right now this family is trying to make up for lost time not many get a second chance like this they I'm just glad that she's a back she's alive and I can see her and kiss her in canola and grounder and grounder how long will she be grounded for the rest of her life hello I'm Tara Brown thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our Channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 minutes content

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 5,110,062

Rating: 4.4696879 out of 5

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Ellen Fanning, Peter Overton, Ray Martin, Jana Wendt, Jeff McMullen, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, Tracey Curro, Peter Harvey, George Negus, Ian Leslie, Gerald Stone, Sarah Abo, Natasha Ryan, the girl in the cupboard, rockhampton, missing person, back from the dead., queensland, investigation, Leonard John Fraser

Id: os_K-e_qwu8

Length: 17min 42sec (1062 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 15 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/MuggyFuzzball]

In the video, she says she didn't spend much time in the closet, and only when there were visitors for up to 1 hour at a time. That's just where she was found. She was obviously living throughout the house during the day.

[u/tinfang]

Mother says daughter has to "regain her trust" after not seeing her for five years. Kids don't live in a closet for five years because they are confused.

[u/newjackvinnyg]

This week someone is going to use this for r/relationshipadvice karma

[u/hastur777]

Despite the discovery that Natasha Ryan was still alive and the doubt it cast on the evidence which led to Fraser being charged with Ryan's murder, Fraser's defence counsel did not lodge an appeal for a mistrial, and the trial forged ahead. Ryan attended what had essentially been her own murder trial on 30 April 2003 to answer questions. Ryan told the court she had never met Leonard Fraser and did not know the witness who stated that she had been seen in the presence of Fraser before she went missing.

That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard in long while. Also, the fact that she was fined only $1,000 while getting paid six figures is ridiculous.

[u/DiscombobulatedFred]

i get bad vibes from the mother. Kids don't do this sort of thing for no reason.

[u/Penmerton]

This is from 2003 and she was paid $120,000 for this interview. What an asshole.

[u/CantHandle_Life]

God what happened to reporters. They ask the dumbest fucking questions. "What has your daughter done that upsets you the most?"...."What about your daughter disappearing was sad?" HUH

[u/Greg-2012]

TIL: kidnapping is called "child stealing" in Australia.

[u/PageFault]

I don't think she should be in trouble at all. Not even for perjury. She ponentially had 5 years of brainwashing, and that't no going to just go away because she entered a courtroom.

Boyfriend on the otherhand, has some questions to answer.