List of long-term false imprisonment cases

This is a list of notable long-term false imprisonment cases.

Note: this list does not include prisoners of war or conflict.

Cases involving children imprisoned by relatives

 * Alba Nidia Álvarez, Mariquita, Colombia, 25 years, discovered in March 2009.
 * "Anna", Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, United States, 6 years, discovered on 6 February 1938.
 * Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, Solihull, West Midlands, England, 1 year, discovered in June 2020.
 * Blanche Monnier, Poitiers, France, 25 years, discovered on 23 May 1901.
 * Byron Anthony McCane II, Oklahoma, United States, 2 years, discovered in 1983.
 * Drenthe hermits family of six children, Ruinerwold, the Netherlands, at least 9 years, discovered in October 2019.
 * Elisabeth Fritzl and her children, Austria, 24 years, discovered on 26 April 2008.
 * Elizabeth Wesson, her sisters, her children, her nieces and her nephews, Fresno, California, US, 26 years, discovered on 12 March 2004.
 * "Genie", Arcadia, California, United States, 13 years, discovered on 4 November 1970.
 * Jeffrey Baldwin, Toronto, Canada, 4 years, discovered on 30 November 2002.
 * Jürgen Bartsch, Langenberg, Germany, 6 years.
 * "M" and her children, Moe, Victoria, Australia, 28 years, discovered in February 2007.
 * "Laura" Mongelli, Turin, Italy, 25 years, discovered on 27 March 2009.
 * Lucero case, Argentina, 20 years, discovered in May 2009.
 * Lydia Gouardo, Val-de-Marne, France, 28 years, discovered on 20 November 1999.
 * Rader/Beighley case, Pennsylvania, United States, 1 year.
 * Rosalynn McGinnis, Missouri, United States, 19 years, escaped in 2016.
 * Sheffield incest case, UK, 25 years, discovered in November 2008.
 * Schollenberger Case, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States, 10 years, discovered in May 2020.
 * South Wales paternal sex abuse case, South Wales, UK, 20 years, discovered in October 2019.
 * Turpin case, Perris, California, United States, 29 years, discovered on 14 January 2018.
 * Viktoria, Katharina, and Elisabeth (Linz sisters), Linz, Austria, 7 years.

Cases involving abducted children

 * Jayme Closs, kidnapped after her parents' murder and held for 88 days, discovered on 10 January 2019.
 * Murder of Sylvia Likens, a teenager tortured and repeatedly held captive in the basement by her caretaker and her children and their friends for three months, discovered on 26 October 1965.
 * Jaycee Dugard, kidnappers Phillip and Nancy Garrido, Antioch, California, US, 18 years, discovered on 26 August 2009.
 * John Jamelske, serial rapist-kidnapper who, from 1988 to his apprehension in 2003, kidnapped a series of girls and women and held them captive in a concrete bunker beneath the yard of his home in DeWitt, a suburb of Syracuse, New York, USA. All five of his victims were from different ethnic origins and most from different age groups.
 * Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, kidnapper Michael J. Devlin, Kirkwood, Missouri, US, 4 years, discovered on 12 January 2007.
 * Tanya Nicole Kach, kidnapper Thomas Hose, McKeesport, Pennsylvania, US, 10 years, discovered on 21 March 2006.
 * Natascha Kampusch, kidnapper Wolfgang Přiklopil, Vienna, Austria, 8 years, discovered on 23 August 2006.
 * Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus, kidnapper Ariel Castro, Cleveland, Ohio, US, 9 to 11 years, discovered on 6 May 2013.
 * Katya Martynova and Lena Samokhina, kidnapper Viktor Mokhov, Skopin, Ryazan, Russia, 3 to 4 years.
 * Anna Saito, kidnapper Kabu Terauchi, Higashi-Nakano, Tokyo, Japan, 2 years.
 * Fusako Sano, kidnapper Nobuyuki Satō, Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, 9 years, discovered on 28 January 2000.
 * Santa Ana kidnapping accusation of 15-year-old girl, held by Isidro Garcia, Santa Ana, California, US, 10 years, discovered on 19 May 2014.
 * Elizabeth Smart, kidnappers Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, Salt Lake City, Utah, and San Diego County, California, US, 9 months, discovered on 12 March 2003.
 * Steven Stayner, kidnappers Kenneth Parnell and Ervin Murphy, Merced, California, US, 7 years, discovered on 1 March 1980.

Cases involving sexual slavery of children

 * Kidwelly sex cult
 * Jeffrey Epstein
 * Birmingham bathing cult
 * Lambeth slavery case

Cases involving adults

 * Kaspar Hauser, Nuremberg, Germany, 16 years.
 * Marvin L. Maple, US, arrested in 2009 for kidnapping his grandchildren, 20 years earlier.
 * Colleen Stan, US, an American woman who was kidnapped and held captive between 1977 and 1984.
 * Alexander Komin, Vyatskiye Polyany, Kirov Oblast, Russia.
 * Omar bin Omran, Algeria, held captive for 26 years.