London, May 12 (ANI): Elizabeth Fritzl's 24 year dungeon ordeal could have come to an end 5 years ago if cops hadn't failed to find the secret prison during an arson probe.

According to some leaked papers, police had suspected Josef Fritzl of being involved in starting a deliberate fire in an insurance scam five years ago.

In fact, in 2003 two officers even visited his home for a full search but failed to take any action. This was followed by two more fires the next year at Fritzl's house in Amstetten, Austria, which were also ignored by the police.

"It was started in two places - a classic sign of arson. But despite all that, the officers only carried out a brief inspection. Senior police officials will be asking why. If a proper investigation had been carried out, the secret family Fritzl kept in his cellar would have been found," The Sun quoted a source, as saying of the 2003 fire.

In the 2003 fire Fritzl claimed 8,000 pounds and in 2004 he claimed 800 pounds after a power meter that somehow burst into flames. In another fire in the same year he claimed 2,300 pounds saying that a TV had gone up in smoke. The police did not take any action in both these incidents.

The sex monster had also been accused for arson way back in 1982, when a fire had devastated a B &B he owned at nearby Lake Mondsee. But the police had dropped this case as well.

Fritzl had kept his daughter Elisabeth, now 42, captive for 24 years and forced her to bear seven of his children.

Elisabeth never wants to see dungeon dad's face again

Now that her horrific 24-year dungeon ordeal is finally over, Elisabeth Fritzl has vowed never to see her rapist father again.

Elisabeth, now 42, made the vow when she was reunited with her mother Rosemarie and the three children that her father Josef Fritzl took away to raise as his own.

"I can't believe I'm free - is it really you? I can't believe I'm out. I didn't think I would ever see you again. It's all too much for me. I don't ever want to see him again," The Telegraph quoted her, as saying in an emotional reunion with her mother.

"My babies. You are so beautiful," Elisabeth told her kids during the reunion, say reports.

Also was present her sister Gabriele Helm, 35, who claimed that they have seen each other the first time after 24 years.

"None of us can believe how normal Elisabeth seems. She is healthy and very chatty and doing very well. Every day she gets a bit stronger. I can't say what the family is going through. It's more than anyone can believe. It has devastated us," said Helm.

Ashe added: "We are working together to support Elisabeth. She is overjoyed to see her children. She told them they were beautiful and she is spending all the time getting to know them."

Meanwhile, prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek said that they were in the process of gathering evidence to charge Fritzl with murder as he incinerated a baby who died after being born.

Elisabeth was just 18 when she was tricked and taken captive by her father in the cellar beneath her family home in Amstetten, Austria. She then spent 24-years locked in the basement, and bore her dad seven children.

Austrian cops to quiz dungeon dad's wife again

Sex beast Josef Fritzl's wife Rosemarie is to be questioned again by police to determine whether she knew about his secret life in the cellar.

Detectives are to conduct a forensic search of the upper floors of the "house of horrors" where Fritzl, 73, lived with his 68-year-old wife, while their daughter Elisabeth, whom he raped for 24 years and fathered 7 kids with, was locked in the basement.

"We think Fritzl acted alone but cannot exclude the possibility that someone else was aware of what was going on downstairs," Times Online quoted Frank Polzer, the chief investigator, as saying.

Her claim to have known nothing about her daughter's ordeal has raised eyebrows, as has the collective blindness of Amstetten, a town 75 miles west of Vienna, to what was unfolding beneath one of its main streets.

However, he said that Rosemarie would not be held a suspect, saying: "What woman would stay silent if she knew her husband had seven children with his daughter and was holding her prisoner in the cellar?"

Still, the cops want to question Rosemarie and other relatives to avoid any kind of complications.

While three of Elisabeth's kids were caged with her, the brute duped Rosemarie into believing that the other three children were dumped by "runaway" Elisabeth, and were later adopted by Rosemarie.

According to neighbours Rosemarie was devoted to the three children she adopted, but many people still were doubtful of her involvement.

"I don't think anyone around here knew anything. But naturally what was happening with Frau Fritzl is a different and difficult question. How someone can live with someone like that and not see anything is hard to understand." Mirror quoted next door cafe owner Gunther Pramrieter, 38, as saying.

Many people in the neighbourhood have seen Fritzls buying carloads of food but thought it was meant for the kids upstairs.

According to psychologists, might be subconsciously pretending to know nothing of her husband's secret double life.

Rosemarie is now suffering from a severe heart problem.

Son's evidence might land Dungeon dad in jail for murder

Dungeon dad Josef Fritzl's 18-year old son Stefan, whom he held captive with his daughter Elisabeth, might provide evidence that could convict the sex-beast of murdering one of the twins he produced by raping his daughter.

12 years ago, Stefan saw his mother delivering twins, one of whom, Michael, died after only three days in Fritzl's damp dungeon and was later burnt in a furnace by the cellar monster.

Prosecution spokesman Dr Gerhard Sedlacek said that they wanted to question Elisabeth as well as other children who were held captive by Josef.

"We want to question the mother and the children in the cellar at that time. The key question is whether the child would have survived with proper medical attention," Mirror quoted prosecution spokesman Dr Gerhard Sedlacek, as saying.

He added: "If Fritzl knew his daughter was about to give birth and did not help her then he'll be charged with murder on the grounds of negligence. That carries a life sentence - and in Austria, life means life."

Fritzl has already confessed to his lawyer Rudolph Mayer that he was aware that   Elisabeth was to deliver, but he left her on her own with only medical manuals at her disposal.

He has also admitted that he disposed off Michael's body, but maintains that the child was already dead.

Also to be questioned will be Elisabeth's 19-year-old daughter Kerstin, if she ever recovers from her terrible ordeal as she lies in a critical condition in hospital.

Josef, a former electrical engineer, is accused of seven charges of rape leading to pregnancy, kidnap, assault and neglect of his children. And all these charges carry a maximum sentence of 15 years. (ANI)