Nathalie Schöffmann: Your brave fight after the terrible kidnapping!

Nathalie Schöffmann: Your brave fight after the terrible kidnapping!

Graz, Österreich - On May 30, 2025, the ARD television film "Without any trace-the case of Nathalie B." Published that tells the true story of Nathalie Schöffmann, a triathlete from Austria. The film shows the dramatic events of their kidnapping, which occurred in Graz in 2019. Schöffmann, who was 26 years old at the time and was traveling on a training ride on a racing bike, was attacked by a perpetrator who rams her with his car, strikes and ultimately kidnapped.

The film is based on these real events and is described as a true crime thriller. Luise von Finckh plays the leading role of Nathalie Birli embodied by Schöffmann, while Robert Stadlober and Claudia Kottal represent a police cheeky duo that is dedicated to the dramatic search for the kidnapped. Director Esther Rauch and the script duo Jonas Brand and Lia Perez staged the story of Schöffmann, which also deals with their discussions with the kidnapper. These dialogues included a scenery in which she discussed orchids and suggested that the incident was caused by a deer, which the perpetrator accepted.

after the kidnapping

Nathalie Schöffmann was held in a remote house for several hours, while intensively thinking about escape options. In fact, she managed to escape from the violence of her kidnapper, which is impressively presented in the film. After their liberation, data from their bicycle computer play a crucial role through which the police were able to quickly research the perpetrator. In the subsequent court trial, her statement, on the advice of your lawyer, was recorded as a video. The kidnapper was sentenced in Graz for seven years in prison and subsequent preventive detention.

After captivity, Schöffmann lives with her husband and child in Upper Austria today. Although she no longer has panic attacks, she feels a bad feeling when she sees a red panel van. The work on the film helped her process the emotional ballast from the past. When the film was watched, she was emotionally affected, especially when it came to returning home.

The context of true crime content

The case of Nathalie Schöffmann not only shows the dangers of kidnappings, but also takes a look at the consumption of true crime content. These formats are very popular, although there are anecdotal reports that indicate possible negative effects. A survey from 2022 showed that a majority of True Crime fans never want to use violence, and there is no empirical evidence that they are less empathetic or have no sympathy. Those who tend to aggressiveness could affect negative effects of consumption, but these are isolated cases. True crime fans tend to be better informed about crime information, which may lead to the fact that they tend to believe less about being able to get through with crimes compared to non-fans.

The ARD television film now offers a dramatic and realistic representation of the events around Nathalie Schöffmann and could help to raise awareness of the psychological effects of such experiences.

summarized 5min about Schöffmann's fate, while ARD Mediathek analyzed the film in the context of True-Crime-Thrillers. In addition, Quarks