Natasha was kidnapped in Grozny three years later, on July 15th, 2009 at a bus station on the way from her home to the office. Natasha behaved that day as she had taught others to behave in case of kidnapping: She shouted out her name and that she was being kidnapped, and she begged onlookers to call and report this to Memorial. She was taken from a street full of people during the morning rush hour. No one helped her; no one reported. People were too scared. They didn't want to be known as witnesses. Natasha's body was found that same afternoon in neighboring Ingushetia with bullets in her head and chest. Her 16 year-old daughter said: "I know what Mom was thinking when they took her. She was happy that it was her, not me."
Russia declined to give the United Nations access to the investigation of Natasha's assassination.
Chechnya: The Assassination of Journalist Natalia Estemirova
