Family: Austrian accused of incest raped before

She said Rosemarie had no idea that her daughter was locked in the basement and did for a while frantically look for her elsewhere. The sister, 12 years her junior, remembered herself searching for Elisabeth in train stations and where homeless people hang out.

"But where can you find out where these cults are?" the woman asked. "We really did detective work all around as to where the cult could be."

Christine R. said her sister devoted her life to her children — a task that she focused on with even greater effort after her husband was jailed. "I believe he spent a year and half in prison," she said.

She did not have more information on the rape conviction.

1967 conviction
The Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten daily on Saturday printed an excerpt of what it said was a 1967 court record found in the state archives in Linz, in which a Josef F. was accused of breaking into the apartment of a 24-year-old nurse and raping her.

Police have declined to comment, saying records that old would have been erased under Austria's statutes of limitation. But authorities are awaiting old court records that the media say document the case.

Christine R. said her sister reacted with "shock" but believed in the maxim that "everyone makes a mistake" and focused on keeping her family healthy.

"I think this changed their relationship a little," Christine R. said. "You can surely imagine that a woman in such a situation would have been utterly broken and shocked over something like this."

As time went on, the relationship between Fritzl and his wife soured, and "there were some things she had to swallow, curses and so on," said the sister.

No warning signs
Still, there were no warning signs that something was disturbing about the relationship between the father and Elisabeth, whom police say may have been sexually abused when she was as young as 12.

"He was just as strict with her as he was to every other child," Christine R. said. "There was nothing in particular that could lead you to say he was more intimate with her. From the child as well it never came out. She never confided in anyone."

Authorities first began to unravel the complex story on April 19, when Elisabeth's eldest daughter was admitted to a hospital suffering from an unidentified infection.

Doctors, unable to find any medical records for the girl, appealed on TV for her mother to come forward. Fritzl then accompanied Elisabeth to the hospital April 26 and opened up to police.

Fritzl has not been formally charged. He faces up to 15 years in prison if he is ultimately convicted on rape charges, the most grave of his alleged offenses, unless prosecutors can charge him with "murder through failure to act" in connection with the death of the infant. That is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Christine R. said she laset spoke to her sister "four or five days" after the daughter's admission to the hospital, which would mean about a day or two before Fritzl's arrest. She said she has received updates on the condition of her sister and Elisabeth from a "good source."

"My sister is apparently doing very badly and Elisabeth is not in the best shape either," she said. "I know my sister and when something is wrong with her children the world collapses.

"For sure, the world has collapsed for her."

More from msnbc.com World Blog: Egyptians weigh in on U.S. election Briefing Book: The candidates and gun control  Experts: Half of mammals in decline NBC: Supreme Court to tackle cigarette, drug issues Vote on the strangest story of the week

MORE FROM EUROPE

Europe Section Front

Russia steps up Georgia pullout plans Fewer 'sworn virgins' in Albania Greece plans to house immigrants Olmert: Don't arm Israel's enemies Europe Section Front   Add Europe headlines to your news reader: