Fed: Natasha Ryan says she was too gutless to come out of hiding

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Fed: Natasha Ryan says she was too gutless to come out of hiding

Teenager NATASHA RYAN says she spent more than four years allowing her parents andpolice to believe she was dead because she was too "gutless" to come out of hiding.

The one-time suspected murder victim has told Channel Nine's 60 Minutes she had noidea of the agony she'd put her parents through.

Police found the teenager this month hiding in a cupboard in the home she shared withboyfriend SCOTT BLACK, not far from where she went missing in the Queensland city of Rockhamptonin 1998.

It has been suspected she'd become a victim of alleged serial killer LEONARD JOHN FRASER.

NATASHA's mother JENNY says when first told her daughter had been alive and in hiding,she hated her.

But she says when she saw NATASHA again, she forgot her anger as her daughter weptand said she was sorry.

NATASHA says she tried to make contact with her parents while on the run but neverwent through with the phone call.

AAP RTV jhm/ge

KEYWORD: RYAN (BRISBANE)