29. 06. 10. - 12:00

Kampusch investigator commits suicide

A leading crime investigator who made a name for himself while working on the kidnap case of Natascha Kampusch has killed himself, it has emerged.

Police said today (Tues) Franz Kröll shot himself in the head at his flat in Graz, Styria, last Friday.

Local media report the 58-year-old suffered from depression.

Federal crime office (BK) spokesman Alexander Marakovits said: "He was a great colleague. We will never forget him."

Kröll headed a special group of investigators examining the kidnapping of Natascha Kampusch.

The 22-year-old was snatched off the road on her way to school in 1998. She escaped pervert kidnapper Wolfgang Priklopil – who kept her in a self-made cellar dungeon under his home in the Lower Austrian town of Strasshof an der Nordbahn – in 2006.

German director Bernd Eichinger recently revealed he had plans for a film of her life set for cinema release in 2012.

Kampusch, who lives in Vienna today, announced last week that she was currently working on her autobiography. She said "3096 Tage" (3,096 Days) will be released in September.