After 14-year-old Natasha Ryan vanished in 1998, authorities believed that she was the victim of a serial killer. But five years later, she turned up alive and well at his murder trial.
Natasha Ryan had run away before . So when the troubled 14 - yr - honest-to-goodness suddenly disappeared from her school in Australia in August 1998 , her parents believe she ’d grow up again soon .
But month make it , and Ryan was nowhere to be found . Then , as other woman and girls begin to go miss in the country , concern for Ryan ’s safety gadget increase , and police began to mistrust she may have been another victim of Australian serial killer Leonard Fraser .
Fairfax Media / Getty ImagesNatasha Ryan , the “ missing ” Australian girl who hid at her beau ’s family for almost five yr .
Fairfax Media/Getty ImagesNatasha Ryan, the “missing” Australian girl who hid at her boyfriend’s home for nearly five years.
About five years after Ryan go away , Fraser conk on test for various counts of murder – include Ryan ’s . But on April 11 , 2003 , a prosecutor in the case announced to a stupefied courtroom : “ I ’m pleased to inform the court of justice that Leonard John Fraser is not guilty of the murder of Natasha Ann Ryan . Natasha Ryan is alert . ”
In an incredible turning of events , Ryan had n’t been abducted and kill . She had willingly disappeared , and for five years , she had been obscure in a house she shared with her boyfriend — less than a mile away from her mother ’s home .
Natasha Ryan’s Troubled Teens
Natasha Ann Ryan was born in 1984 and grew up in Rockhampton , Queensland , a small city of 68,000 . “ Rocky , ” as the locals affectionately called it , was a friendly blank space where the resident know each other ’s business was a elbow room of life , The New Zealand Heraldreports .
When Ryan was a child , her sire gave her the affectionate nickname “ Grasshopper ” because she walked alternatively of crawl . But by her teens , Ryan lived with her mother in North Rockhampton . Her parent had divorced , and her Church Father had remarried and go to another Queensland metropolis over three 60 minutes away .
Wikimedia CommonsRockhampton in Queensland , Australia .
Wikimedia CommonsRockhampton in Queensland, Australia.
A troubled teen , Ryan start out experimenting with drugs , try self-destruction , and recrudesce a fondness for go away , all by the eld of 14 . She was also seeing a 21 - year - sometime man , Scott Black .
On one social occasion in July of 1998 , Ryan race away while out walking the family dog . Police found her later that hebdomad at an outdoor medicine locale in Rockhampton , and shortly observe she ’d been staying in a hotel with Black . Police initially charged the much sr. homo with abduction , a charge that was eventually dropped , though Black was later break water for obstructing the police ’s investigation .
But it would n’t be the last time Natasha Ryan ran away from dwelling .
TwitterScott Black And Natasha Ryan.
Her Seemingly Fatal Disappearance
On the morning of Aug. 31 , 1998 , Natasha Ryan ’s female parent expend her off at North Rockhampton State High . At some point that day , Ryan vanished . It would be another five yr before she was seen again .
Knowing Ryan had a chronicle of scat off , the police force believed they would rule her again presently enough . But as the month passed , desire that Ryan would be found alert dwindle when three woman between the age of 19 and 39 , as well as a nine - twelvemonth - old missy , went missing . Eventually , they were all confirmed to be the dupe of a serial slayer , Leonard Fraser .
Described as a “ sexual predator of the worst kind ” and by police psychologists as a “ classic sociopath , ” Leonard Fraser was a convict raper who , upon his 1997 release from prison house , had continued to ravish more women .
Fairfax Media/Getty ImagesScott Black’s home, where Natasha Ryan was hiding.
On April 22 , 1999 , Fraser raped and polish off nine - year - erstwhile Keyra Steinhart after stalking her on her walk home from school . This criminal offense landed him , once again , in prison . And though police were convince all of the local disappearance were connected , Fraser initially deny that he ’d murdered Natasha Ryan .
Investigators before long persuaded another inmate to arouse a confession out of Fraser , and finally , he admit to polish off all five victims — include Ryan . He claimed he had met her at a movie theatre and , after offering her a ride plate , attacked her in his car and hid her body in a pool .
Believing Ryan was one of Fraser ’s dupe , her category held a memorial overhaul for her in 2001 on her seventeenth birthday . But although Fraser was able-bodied to show law where he ’d hidden the stiff of the other victims , Ryan ’s body was never found .
Fairfax Media/Getty ImagesNatasha Ryan with a 60 Minutes crew member.
The Hidden Life Of Natasha Ryan
While her kinfolk frantically explore for her , Natasha Ryan was alive and well , blot out out with her fellow Scott Black in dissimilar local houses — the last one only a few minutes off from her mother ’s domicile in North Rockhampton .
TwitterScott Black And Natasha Ryan .
Black worked as a milkman at a dairy farm factory , and his colleagues had no clue he was harboring Ryan . By all news report , he appear to live alone . Only his own washables ever appeared on the clothing line outside . And whenever Black received visitors , Ryan simply hid in a chamber closet until they were locomote .
Most of the time , though , Ryan move about the planetary house freely with the curtains suck . She seemed content to live out most of her teenage years in a darken place , cooking , recitation , stitching , and surfing the web . In almost five age , Ryan only went outside a smattering of times to move business firm or to go to a local beach at dark .
But by 2003 , it seems the fate of the homo accused of her murder may have been weighing on Ryan ’s mind . About three week before Fraser ’s tryout , it ’s believed Ryan contacted the helpline of a fry ’s direction service .
Using the name “ Sally , ” Ryan told a counselor that she was a shoo-in , that she was living with her boyfriend , and that a man was about to go on visitation for her murder . On April 2 , 2003 , the counselor anonymously relayed her message to the police . But the officer on duty was unable to trace the call .
Fairfax Media / Getty ImagesScott Black ’s home , where Natasha Ryan was hiding .
soon afterward , the Rockhampton police received an anonymous missive with an enclosed phone issue claiming Ryan was alive and well .
On the eventide of April 10 , 2003 , police officers coerce entry into a family on Mills Avenue in North Rockhampton . There , they find the “ stagnant ” girl hiding in the bedroom closet , ghostly sick from her year hide indoors without any photo to sun : Natasha Ryan .
Natasha Ryan Returns From The Grave
According toCBS News , it was the 12th day of Fraser ’s trail when a prosecuting officer received a phone call from the law that Natasha Ryan was alive .
The prosecuting officer step on it through the court to find Ryan ’s father , Robert Ryan , and recount him the newsworthiness that his daughter had been found . When Robert heard this , he ab initio simulate it meant that the police had found her trunk , and he almost founder when he heard that Ryan was , in fact , alert .
Robert was instructed to call the police place to corroborate it was his daughter , and when he did , he asked the woman who came on the blood for the sobriquet he ’d dedicate her as a child to ensure he was n’t conduct with an imposter .
“ Dad , it ’s me , Grasshopper , and I love you and I ’m sorry , ” Ryan told him .
Fairfax Media / Getty ImagesNatasha Ryan with a 60 Minutes gang member .
Ryan ’s reunion with her female parent , Jenny Ryan , was less pleasant . Jenny was enraged Ryan had lead her to believe that she was beat for all these years , all while living less than a mile off .
“ I hated her , ” she tell CBS . “ I could have grabbed her and just shook the infernal region out of her . But when I seen her … You forget all that . ”
Then , Natasha Ryan come out in court at her own murder run , and to the public , it seemed as if the now 18 - yr - honest-to-god had come back from the dead . She testified that she had not , in fact , been polish off by Fraser .
The courtroom , naturally , take for that Fraser was not guilty of murdering Natasha Ryan . Still , he was find shamefaced of committing the other murders he ’d been charged with , and was sentenced to living in prison house .
Meanwhile , Natasha Ryan was facing trials of her own .
The Aftermath Of Ryan’s Return
While the humankind rejoiced that Natasha Ryan was live , many respond to her sudden return with outrage , wonder how she could have put her loved ones through years of suffering by leave them to trust she ’d been off .
In 2005,The Guardianreported that Ryan ’s fellow Black had receive a one - class prison house sentence for perjury after falsely claim to patrol that he did n’t know where Natasha Ryan was .
And in 2006 , Ryan herself was found shamefaced of creating a untrue law investigation . She was fin $ 4,000 and ordered to bear $ 16,000 towards investigation costs .
But Natasha Ryan was profit off of the promotion . Signed to a publiciser , Ryan made up for age of lose income by selling her story to the Australian translation of60 Minutesfor 120,000 Australian dollars . Ryan and Black married in 2008 , and sold the news show of their marriage ceremony toWomen ’s Dayfor an gain $ 200,000 . They presently have three children .
After Natasha Ryan was strike , The New Zealand Heraldreports , police call for her why she had remain in hiding all of those long time . Why did n’t she leave when people began to trust she ’d been polish off ?
“ The Trygve Halvden Lie had become too bounteous , ” she tell .
After learning about Natasha Ryan ’s disappearance , scan aboutBrian Shaffer , who mysteriously go away from an Ohio bar . Then , check the baffling typeface ofplane highjacker D.B. Cooper , who vanish into fragile airafter collect $ 200,000 in ransom money .
