Found! Three women kept prisoner for a decade in Ohio house
19 Action News/WOIO
FREEDOM: Amanda Berry (center) celebrates her liberation with family and friends yesterday.
Three women escaped a living nightmare yesterday when someone finally heard their cries for help from inside a suburban Ohio home where they had been held prisoner after disappearing a decade ago.
Amanda Berry, 27, and Gina DeJesus, 23 — who went missing as teenagers — were found alive and well after a neighbor heard screams coming from the house in Cleveland.
Michelle Knight, 32, was also found in the home. She disappeared in 2000 when she was 20 years old.
“We’ve confirmed it’s them,” a detective told Cleveland’s Plain Dealer. “They are alive and safe.”
REUTERS
FBI handout photos show Amanda Marie Berry (left), missing since she was 16, and Georgina Lynn Dejesus, missing since she was 14.
The miraculous discovery occurred when a neighbor, who happened to be home from work, heard shouting coming from the house and went to investigate.
“I heard screaming . . . I come outside and I see this girl going nuts trying to get out of her house,” neighbor Charles Ramsey told Cleveland’s WEWS-TV.
“I go on the porch and she said, ‘Help me get out. I’ve been here a long time.’ ”
Another neighbor then helped break down the door and free the desperate young woman, who they later discovered was Amanda Berry.
As soon as she escaped, Berry called 911 from the Ramseys’ home and told police she was the girl they’d been searching for all these years.
“Help me, I’m Amanda Berry,” she said in the frantic 911 call. “I’ve been kidnapped and I’ve been missing for ten years and I’m here — I’m free now.”
243 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 243 of 243I'm not hurt but thanks for thinking of me.
You really need to actually read my posts now that you've reacted to them. I reflected Hobs words at her. You point out the pride and arrogance in those words. Yet they aren't mine, they are hers.
You are making presumptions about Coughing's mental state, dismissive comments because they aren't rah rah-Hobs!
That's silly. You're trying to discredit her argument by projecting your feelings onto her posts. She's defending the posters who disagree tactfully. It's the regulars who are turning this into West Side Story.
Your post sounds a little passive aggressive.
Fight the Power! Right on.
How many of you have actually read my post and saw that i pointed out the questions i asked are the ones LE will be asking and also the ones the defence attornies will be asking?
The defence will do their darndest to minimise the crimes of their client, it is what they are paid to do.
!0 years is a long time to be held captive, never knowing what each day will bring, wondering if their families are still looking for them or if they have been told their familes think they are dead or don't love them enough to search for them.
It is not only physical abuse it is also emotional abuse.
This is why in many crimes the victims refuse to testify, it is like enduring it all over again, being raped again in public, relieving every horrible moment, why did you not do this? did you try to do that? did you fight him off? if not why not? non resistance meant you consented and so on.
They will be questioned by LE, it will be incredibly painful, they will have to relive and recount every horrible thing they suffered.
LE won't want or enjoy doing this, they have to ask the questions so the right charges can be brought, it will be used in evidence against their abductor.
The defence on the other hand will ask the same questions in order to show the victims chose to stay with their abductor, they weren't abducted they got into the car willingly, they consented to sex and so on, the defense will disparage the victims, they will bring up their history prior to their abduction, they did badly at school, they ran away, they hated their families, they chose to stay with their client and so.
They will, in effect, be revictimised.
LE may decide they can get convictions just from victim statements and evidence, They may place the victims behind a curtain so the abductor cannot see them or place them in a separate room, The defence , unless a deal is done is going to call them to the stand and pretty much blame them for what happened.
The defence will in all likelihood know their client is guilty as hell, however they are paid to defend their client and as we have seen in many cases, they will use every dirty trick in the book to minimise the actions of their client and thus his sentence.
They may will know he did it and should do LWOP, this is where plea deals come in. if you accept my clients plea deal we won't force the victims to take the stand and testify to every salacious detail.
often this works, the victims are too traumatised, too scared and will accept the deal rather than face their abuser in court.
BTW as to my not suffering fools gladly, if you have a reasoned well thought out statement then i am all ears and i will listen, if however, you come in cussing, name calling and cannot or will not explain your thoughts, your reasonings and say i believe in ... because it's in the bible, they are too smart/drunk/poor, they are too pretty/handsome/ i couldn't do it so they couldn't either or even, just because..., then i will not take you seriously.
I love learning why people have the thoughts and beliefs they do.
have a nice day :)
Oh come on Hobnobs, give an f'n break. One of the girls was only 14. She isn't old enough to consent to anything. She was a child!
Oh and BTW, I don't care if you take me seriously or not.
P.S. Let me make sure I was able to appropriately form my thoughts and speak clearly ...
...give me an F'n break!
I'm about done here. Sorry Peter.
She is a child, however that will not stop the defence asking questions about her family life, her schooling and so on.
Even something as minor as not getting good grades at school, hanging out with the wrong people, having a fight with mom will all be closely looked at. The defence play dirty and will drag up anything they can think of to make the victim look bad and their client look good.
We saw this in the jodi arias trial, she claimed all this nastiness and abusiveness in relation to Travis. non of it was true, there was no evidence, no witnesses apart from what jodi told the court, we saw in in the casey anthony trial where she blamed a non existent nanny and then made allegations against her parents etc all of which were lies and not substantiated.
Even if blatantly false and mentioned only in opening arguments, the thought has been planted in the minds of the jury and it might be enough to cause reasonable doubt.
The victim's life becomes fair game for the defence.
10 years is a heck of a long time to be held captive, the defence will keep bringing this up.
In all this time did you try and escape?
How often did you try?
Did you ever get to leave the house?
When?
How often?
Who was with you and so on.
These are the questions both the prosecution and defence want answered in order to bolster their case.
They are horrible questions.
One side will use the answers to show how terrified the victims were, too scared to do anything except comply with their abductors wishes, co-operating out of fear of death if not to themselves but the other victims.
Trapped out of fear what he would do if they escaped and left the others behind.
Perhaps even fear that he would kill their families if they broke his rules.
The other side will say 10 years is a long time, you could have done this or that, what did you do, what didn't you do, you weren't terrified out your minds, you could have left at any time, you could have done more and so on, putting the blame on the victims rather than his client.
The 3 women endured a hellish ordeal, it will take many years for them to begin healing, they have my sympathy, no one should ever endure such horrors, they have to learn to live again, to feel safe all of which takes time and a lot of love.
They may never rid themselves of the nightmares at night or panicked moments when a sound or smell triggers a memory
I want their abductor and any who knew what was going on to be put away for life.
I hope their abductor admits his crimes and does not force them to testify, it will be for him and his defence to decide.
We have seen cases where the accused has taken it upon themselves to be their own attorney and forced their victim to answer their questions in court, another way of revictimising them as well as allowing the accused to get his jollies.
This is only the beginning, more statements will be released on all sides.
You're fixin' to make me mad little girl, I'm about to have to go get my blood pressure medicine out of my purse.
However, let's all please rejoice these little girls are safe now. I have stared at the picture of Amanda all day on CNN. All of a sudden something just broke and I burst out in tears. The last time I can remember crying like that was at my brother's funeral. It hurts. I don't know why it is affecting me so much. I am just so damn proud of Amanda for gathering the strength she did. She made it.
ima.grandma,
please don't go. You are cracking me up, but also yours is a refreshing take on SA, and also a sobering reminder of what the victim goes through.
HUGS TO YOU ima.grandma
Now put back your purse, settle in and PLEASE STAY.
xo pineapple
Thank you pineapple.
Have you ever heard the song "Revolution" by the Beatles?
I'll be burning my bra soon.
Yes, I love that song.
LOL burn that bra!!!!
You need to read your own posts, Hobs. You are swinging like a pendulum today. I didn't cuss or name call.
You lack humility. You are victim shaming. You presume to know how you'd respond in this situation.
Now read mine. Mine are clear, cogent and consistent.
You are all over the place, now with a loving the victim 180. Are you back to picking flowers for those fools you can no longer suffer yet seek to educate before you praise them to watch their faces light up like sunbeams? Yeah, sarcasm. I am sick of your ego.
I wish Anon at May 9, 2013 at 2:04 PM
would out themselves and take a handle.That's the funniest post read here yet.
Hobs, what is your career? Stop schooling everyone for a minute. You are on the jury. You watch the defence go after the woman-child as a 14 year old provacateur.
Team victim.
I marched against Vietnam.
Revolution happens when the people rise up and come together for peaceful change. You know . . . flower power.
Hobs, Hannah Morgan has brought your taxi around.
Dark Passenger. lol, if no one claims it by 10pm, I'll take it.
I am so sitting here on my bed buzzed out with my little belly bouncing around giggling.
I just finished reading all these comments. I've read this site since 2010. I'm familiar with the regulars and the newbies. I like you all.
Hobs, I am surprised by you. Please, please go back and read your comments. You've gotten carried away, but you need to realize what you're saying.
Your words do blame the victims. The public will not tolerate the defense taking the hard-line against children (whether or not they are adults or not) as you suggest. This was not a one-off rape case, which is what your idea of what will happen matches. This was kidnapping, enforced entrapment, constant rape, forcible pregnancy, possible infant murder, enforced abortions, etc. The house was full of ropes, chains and bondage equipment. I am concerned by your insistence that these girls will be interrogated in this manner. They will not. Most likely he will take a deal to avoid the death penalty, or be cause the prosecution doesn't want the girls to have to testify. Or because the DEFENSE knows it's in their client's best interest.
In a one-off rape case, that would likely be the case, but that is not the situation that's represented here.
Clearly, you have wisdom and knowledge in these dealings, but here you are coming across though you are blaming these girls, which I am sure, I am SURE, I am confident is not your intent.
So please stop insisting that these things will be asked. I don't think it's because you are from the UK, but maybe it is. I don't know.
If you won't stop, I hope Peter will start deleting your comments. You are hurting people. That is reason enough.
Hobnob--any defense may try, and even somewhat succeed, at making the victims "look bad"' but they will not make a dent in making Castro "look good". This is not a he said/she said, could be interpreted in several ways situation.
Basically, Castro's dog meat.
Wise advice, JillyJooly..
Jilly, she's too proud to back down even though her story is changing and she's equivocating.
You're right---no tolerance for victim shaming!
She has all the clang clang of someone who thinks she can post offensive diatribes because she truly believes Peter will keep anything she writes posted at the sake of his own values, or what he has espoused to us.
HOBS, THEY WERE CHAINED AND BOUND AND HELD HOSTAGE. Stop with all the psychic detective crap. Are you bipolar? You sound bipolar and fullllll of yourself today! You are being so insufferable.
You're free assosciating crap as tou go along for praise and attention.
Just wondering, will I be allowed to post under this name, or will the " spam filter" block me?
That is not me @7:22 or 7:45. Someone is using my name.
In reply to Hobnob saying, "...the questions I asked are the ones LE will be asking...", LE may very well ask some of the questions you ask, but your very first post on this thread:
"I don't know about anybody else here but my hobnobby sense are quivering.
Something isn't right here, there is something missing and i cannot put my finger on it.
There is something off and it's bothering me.
I can fully understand stockholm syndrome, it happens, it is a survival instinct, bond with the captor and they are less likely to hurt you.
I can understand it with one victim, two makes me think of the case of the two boys, the oldest who came forward and told the truth because he didn't want the 2nd victiim to endure what he had.
i could even understand two victims bonding if out in the middle of nowhere, sisters in fear so to speak.
It's the fact there were 3 (;iars number Mark McClish) victims and 3 abductors/men involved."
This quote really insinuates that the victim was lying, or not as much of a victim as the world thinks she is. I am a regular reader of this blog, and feel like I am learning a lot about SA. I was shocked when I got to Hobnobs first post.
To add: As you point out, Hobnob made it clear in her first post that her questions toward the victims were only about Hobnob.
In later posts Hobnob added that her questions were what LE and attorneys would ask.
How does this go Hobnob?
If the story changes, there is a need to make the story change. Yes, I believe that is it.
CLEVELAND – The man accused of holding three women captive for a decade in his Cleveland home terrorized the mother of his children, frequently beating her, playing twisted psychological games and locking her indoors in the years before their relationship disintegrated, her relatives say.
Several relatives of Grimilda Figueroa, who left Ariel Castro years ago and died after a long illness last year, painted a nightmarish portrait of Castro's family life as authorities made public horrifying details of the abuse endured by the imprisoned women.
In interviews with The Associated Press on Thursday, the relatives described Castro as a "monster" who abused his wife and locked his family inside their own home. Their views were at odds with those of some of Castro's family and a neighbor, who knew the former school bus driver only as a happy and respectful man.
Figueroa's relatives said Castro savagely beat her, pushing her down a flight of stairs, breaking her nose and dislocating her shoulder, among other injuries. Her sister, Elida Caraballo, said Castro once shoved Figueroa into a cardboard box and closed the flaps over her head.
"He told her, `You stay there until I tell you to get out,"' said Caraballo, who cried as she recounted her late sister's torment. "That's when I got scared and I ran downstairs to get my parents."
Prosecutors said Thursday they may seek the death penalty against Castro as police charged that he impregnated one of his captives at least five times and made her miscarry by starving her and punching her in the belly. The allegations were contained in a police report that also said another one of the women, Amanda Berry, was forced to give birth in a plastic kiddie pool.
Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty said his office will decide whether to bring aggravated murder charges, punishable by death, in connection with the pregnancies that were terminated by force. McGinty said Castro will be charged for every act of sexual violence, assault and other crimes committed against the women, suggesting the counts could number in the hundreds, if not thousands.
Castro, 52, is being held on $8 million bail under a suicide watch in jail, where he is charged with rape and kidnapping.
"Capital punishment must be reserved for those crimes that are truly the worst examples of human conduct," McGinty said. "The reality is we still have brutal criminals in our midst who have no respect for the rule of law or human life."
The three women said Castro chained them up in the basement but eventually let them live on the home's second floor. Each woman told a similar story about being abducted after accepting a ride from him.
Berry, now 27, told officers that she was forced to give birth in a plastic pool in the house so it would be easier to clean up. Berry said that none of the women -- or her 6-year-old child -- had ever been to a doctor during their captivity.
Michelle Knight, now 32, said her five pregnancies ended after Castro starved her for at least two weeks and "repeatedly punched her in the stomach until she miscarried." She also said Castro forced her to deliver Berry's baby under threat of death if the baby died. When the newborn stopped breathing, Knight said she revived her through mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
During his brief arraignment Thursday, Castro tried to hide his face, tucking his chin inside his shirt collar. He appeared to close his eyes during the hearing and awkwardly signed documents while handcuffed. He did not speak or enter a plea.
In court, prosecutor Brian Murphy said Castro used the women "in whatever self-gratifying, self-serving way he saw fit."
Kathleen DeMetz, a public defender assigned to represent him at the hearing, didn't comment on his guilt or innocence or object when prosecutors recommended that bail be set at $5 million. The judge, instead, ordered Castro held on $8 million bail.
Castro was arrested Monday, when Berry broke out of his run-down house and called 911 while he was away. Police found the two other women inside. The women had vanished separately between 2002 and 2004, when they 14, 16 and 20.
Police then entered the house and found the other women, who flung themselves into the officers' arms.
Berry and former captive Gina DeJesus, 22, went home with relatives on Wednesday. Knight was reported in good condition at a Cleveland hospital.
Castro's two brothers, who were arrested with him but later cleared of involvement in the case, appeared in court on unrelated charges Thursday and were released.
Figueroa's relatives said Castro often forced her to remain inside her home and forbade her from using the telephone. After warning her not to leave, he would test her to see if she obeyed, Caraballo said.
Some relatives of Castro have said they were shocked by the allegations against him. An uncle, Julio Castro, said it's been difficult news to absorb.
"Of course we have taken it hard," he said. "We only knew one Ariel, my sweet nephew. He was a sweet, happy person, a musician. We didn't have the slightest idea of the second person in him."
Juan Perez, who lives two doors down from Castro, said Castro was always happy and respectful. "He gained trust with the kids and with the parents. You can only do that if you're nice," Perez said.
On a recent visit to Castro's rundown home, his friend Ricky Sanchez said he heard noises "like banging on a wall" and noticed four or five locks on the outside door. While he was there, a little girl came out from the kitchen and stared at him. But she didn't say anything.
"When I was about to leave, I tried to open the door," he said. "I couldn't even, because there were so many locks in there."
Relatives say that in 1996, Figueroa finally left Castro after he hit her for the last time. After one particularly bad beating, Figueroa ran outside with one of her sons, crying out to neighbors just as the captive women did.
"The neighbors went across the street to get her," Elida Caraballo said. "And that was the last time she ever stepped in the house."
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/10/ohio-man-ex-kin-say-beat-them-kept-mannequin/#ixzz2Su2DJKNe
Now we are getting to the truth.
Now we are getting to the truth. Implying what was said before isn't the truth? Why won't you let it go hobnob?
I was watching an interview with, (I think it was) Gina Dejesus' mother who said she was friendly with Arial and he would always ask her how she was doing, if there was any news about her daughter and if she needed anything to let him know if he could help. I don't even know what words to use for a man like that and I know a lot of words! It's just beyond fucked up. Hearing that literally made me gag.
Are you implying the little girl was at fault because she didnt speak up?
OK, Hobnob--now you know the child wasn't born in hospital (or so the women claim), but there's nothing about attempts to escape. What's your Hob-sense telling you? Please, enighten and edumacate me.
What is coming out now is one victim was known to her abductor, he was abusive to his family, police had been called to the house several times.
This then leads to who knew or suspected what, why were they not discovered way sooner either by the family, friends, neighbors or even LE.
Questions will be asked as to why reports were not fully followed up by LE, could they have been rescued sooner perhaps even after the first abduction.
How far did house to house searches go?
Was he questioned at any point since his daughter was friends with her before her abduction?
It seems all three accepted a ride with him which led to their abduction.
Did they all know him is some way or other that they felt it was safe to get into his car?
We are now hearing there were family problems with the 20 year old which is why she was initially treated as a runaway rather than an abduction.
None of them should have been abducted or abused, what needs to be asked is how he managed to keep them under his control for 10 years.
Was this a solo job or are there others who knew or suspected especially since they were apparantly allowed to stay on the second floor?
In a suicide letter Castro wrote years ago, he stated that the girls got into a car with a total stranger. There is no indication that the girls knew him. Gina was friends, supposedly, with Castro's daughter, but I have seen nothing to indicate that she or her family knew Castro before the the abduction.
The girls said they were "tested" to see if they would attempt to escape. Just the fact that the girls knew that there were tests show that they did attempt to escape at least once.
Some of us had all that figured out by Monday evening, Hobnob, but thanks. I notice you've stood down from your shacked-up-with-their-drug-dealer stance.
I have read several articles but this one gives details not found in any of them or on tv. I will just give the link instead of copying the entire article.
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/05/clevelands_missing_women_a_chi.html
It is so hard to imagine that there weren't any clues to the kidnappers family that something was wrong in that house. 10 years is such a long time, the energy and time it would take to keep 3 women hidden has to be a huge amount.
I really believe we will find out more as people start putting all the information together.
I think part of me wants there to have been clues or signs that a monster could be next door. Even though I have family/friends in LE and working at juvenile depts (so much abuse that isn't public even child on child crimes)I think I want there to be MONSTER clues or signs to help warn us all.
It is horrible that MONSTERS are everywhere. I hope this guy gets the death penalty, the death penalty is too good for him. I want this guy to fry.
I'm not critical of Cleveland PD at this point and understand that they're investigating possible missed opportunities.
BUT, I cannot understand why the LE spokesman answered a reporter question at the press conference by saying he was unaware of any connection between Ariel Castro and any of the victims. It's a known fact that Gina DeJesus was Arlene Castro's best friend.
It blows my mind that Ariel Castro was never questioned in connection with at least Gina's disappearance. His daughter was the last person to see Gina before she vanished, and Ariel Castro is the one who picked up his daughter from walking with Gina and drove her home just before Gina went missing. Plus, he already had a police record for abusive controlling violence on a woman. I want to hear more about how the case was handled.
We are discussing this story at www.Mockforums.net.
May Michelle, Amanda,and Gina find peace and be healthy.
I think it's funny that some people believe making threats will change anything about this blog. Don't you understand that your insecurity is blazing through your threats to go off in a huff unless Peter does this or that. You sound like a bunch of little babies banging on your high chairs. The solution is simple, SKIP reading posts by people you do not like. Only read comments by people you do like. If you insist on being so polarized and immature that you cannot BEAR to read something you don't agree with then please do that. It's really that simple.
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