Strasshof, Austria ? It was just another order by the man who had enslaved her for eight years, this time to vacuum his car. But Natascha Kampusch glimpsed a tiny window of opportunity – then bolted to freedom while her abductor was busy with a cell phone call.

As investigators interviewed the 18-year-old about her harrowing ordeal, some neighbors questioned Friday whether they could have done more to end it earlier.

Stefan Freiberger, a retiree in his 60s, recalled his daughter and a friend telling him that the man now believed to have abducted Kampusch had exposed himself a few years ago as the two girls rode their bikes past the back of his house. Freiberger said he contemplated going to the police about the man, Wolfgang Priklopil – but didn’t.

Priklopil’s house in this semi-rural community – where children play freely in the streets and doors are left open – had a menacing aura, Freiberger said.

Priklopil, 44, killed himself Wednesday by jumping in front of a Vienna commuter train.

Police have said they are looking for a possible accomplice based on the testimony eight years ago of a girl who claimed to have seen two people in a van stop and seize Natascha.

Priklopil’s suicide came just a few hours after Kampusch escaped and pleaded for help at a neighbor’s door.

Erich Zwettler, the head of Austria’s federal police, told reporters that Kampusch had taken advantage of an unguarded moment while her abductor stepped away to talk on his cell phone.

Kampusch, whose identity was confirmed through DNA testing, was at an undisclosed location Friday for police and psychologist questioning, and her relatives declined to talk to media.