Sabine Dardenne was abducted in May 1996 in Belgium by Marc Dutroux and held captive for approximately 80

Sabine Dardenne was abducted in May 1996 in Belgium by Marc Dutroux and held captive for approximately 80 days before being rescued in August 1996 during a police search. She later testified during the Dutroux trial and published her memoir I Choose to Live. This article discusses real events in a non-graphic, awareness-focused manner

Sabine Dardenne — The Girl Who Refused to Disappear

In May 1996, Sabine Dardenne was an ordinary Belgian schoolgirl.

She rode her bicycle.

She followed familiar streets.

She trusted the morning.

Then one man stopped her.

Within minutes, her life split into before and after.

She was taken to a house and locked inside a concealed underground space. No windows. No daylight. No sense of time. The world moved forward above her — unaware.

Isolation can do something dangerous. It can erase identity.

But Sabine made a silent decision.

She would not disappear.

She repeated her family’s names in her mind. She rehearsed memories. She spoke when she could — not from comfort, but as proof of existence. Each word was resistance.

For approximately eighty days, she endured confinement no child should ever experience.

In August 1996, police searching the property uncovered the hidden room. Sabine was found alive.

Her rescue stunned Belgium.

But what followed shook the nation even more.

The investigation exposed major institutional failures and missteps that had allowed crimes to continue. Public outrage led to sweeping reforms in Belgium’s policing and judicial coordination systems.

Sabine later testified in court — calm, precise, unwavering.

Years later, she published her memoir, I Choose to Live.

Not as a story of horror.

But as a declaration.

She refused to let captivity define her identity.

She chose to rebuild.

She chose to speak.

She chose to live.