3 Missing Ohio Women - Located Alive!

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks for referring to this story in the Trivial Drivel thread, Duchess.

Reminds me of the cases of Steven Stayner and Jaycee Dugard. Kidnapped and held captive near their homes, despite LE efforts, for years and years.

So few victims of abductions are found alive after so long - this is great news.

Looking forward to hearing more about how a man was able to hold 3 teens captive without detection; press conference tomorrow.

Here's the story.


Amanda Berry (left) and Gina DeJesus (right). Michelle Knight not pictured.

Three women who went missing a decade ago were found alive Monday in a home in Cleveland, Ohio, according to police.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight appeared to be in good health and were talking after being discovered in a home on the city's west side, Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGarth said in a statement.

A neighbor who heard screams from the house rushed to the dwelling where he found the women, and one of them used his cell phone to call emergency-911, according to police.

All three women have since been taken to a hospital, where they were reported to be in good medical condition, police said.

NBC Cleveland affiliate WKYC reported that one of the three was holding a baby.

A 52-year-old man has been placed under arrest.

The women's disappearance has been a mystery to Cleveland authorities for almost ten years.

Berry, now 27, was reported missing on April 21, 2003 after she phoned her sister to say she was getting a ride home from her job at a fast food restaurant.

About one year later, then 14-year-old DeJesus went missing when walking home from school.

Knight went missing around the year 2000, police said, but since she was 20 years old at the time, authorities assumed she may have run off on her own. Cops on Monday said all three women were held against their will.

Earlier this year a prison inmate was sentenced for admitting he gave authorities fraudulent tips about Berry's remains. Robert Wolford, who is serving time for killing a homeless man, told police the woman was buried under a Cleveland lot, which was then dug up by backhoes.

And two men arrested for questioning about DeJesus' disappearance were released in 2006 after police failed to find the woman's remains during a search of their house.

Police have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday morning.

[koko]

This is incredible! Now i don't personally remember the name Michelle Knight, but i've read a lot about Amanda & Gina.

I'd feared i'd read one day that their bones were identified....but ohhhh my god. How amazing they're alive!! And seemingly ok (considering what they've been thru the past 10 years or so)

I wonder if they were all abducted by the same person, or were there more than just the 52 y/o guy and female homeowner? (gotta double check but i think both of them were arrested)

[koko]

I think i got confused. The 52 year old suspect is named Ariel Castro. He owns the house where they were found. I thought an article i read said they arrested a female homeowner but maybe i was just confused by the name Ariel...

[HairOfTheDog]

I think i got confused. The 52 year old suspect is named Ariel Castro. He owns the house where they were found. I thought an article i read said they arrested a female homeowner but maybe i was just confused by the name Ariel...

I got confused too, koko. When this first broke, there were some disjointed articles out there.

Almost can't believe that all three are alive - seems too good to be true, but glad it is. I'm wondering though if this asshole possibly abducted others that haven't been connected yet. Hope not.

Like you, I'd never heard of Michelle Knight. Couldn't even find a missing person poster for her earlier today. Sad that she was assumed to be voluntarily missing because she was 20 instead of in her teens.

Will be interesting to hear more at the press conference tomorrow.

[koko]

Dispatcher answering the call from Berry was a bitch. Had my mom listen to it (she's retired from CPD) and she can't get over how dumb the bitch is. She's like "you know it's a fat bitch sittin there with her lunch"
Amanda Berry's 911 Call

And yeah HotD the only info i can find is that she was last seen leaving a cousins house on W.106 & Lorain. Varying reports of her age too. Seen it listed as 30, 31, 32

[imsuchawildflower]

Wow. 10 years. God only knows what horrors these girls had to face.
Soon we will all know. I hope yall keep posting...Im intrigued to find out how he was
able to keep 3 there undetected for so long. And a baby too! just wow....

[HairOfTheDog]

I'm not completely confident in this source yet, but if this is true, it's a very creepy component of this story.

Ariel Castro is the 52-year-old man who was arrested today after allegedly kidnapping and then holding Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight captive in his basement in Cleveland for a decade. In a weird twist, it looks like Castro was actually a reporter who wrote an article in the Plain Press about the DeJesus case back in 2004.

A cached version of the article has been found online and can be viewed through this link: Gina DeJesus’ disappearance has changed her neighborhood. You can see a screen cap of parts of the article below.



Castro was reportedly a bus driver with an arrest record for domestic violence; haven't found a verified photo of the scumbag yet.

[HairOfTheDog]

Photo of Amanda Berry with her sister and her child (who was rescued with her).



So happy for these young ladies!

[koko]

Reports that 2 of Castro's brothers have been arrested too...

3 Brothers arrested, 3 missing women found in Cleveland

[imsuchawildflower]

Photo of Amanda Berry with her sister and her child (who was rescued with her).



So happy for these young ladies!

which one is amanda? If its the one in the middle...shes wearing rings...

[imsuchawildflower]

Reports that 2 of Castro's brothers have been arrested too...

3 Brothers arrested, 3 missing women found in Cleveland

I couldnt help but cry...

[HairOfTheDog]

Imsuchawildflower:
I believe Amanda is the one in the middle with the rings.

koko:
Thanks for the update! If Castro's brothers were his accomplices, makes it easier to understand how three young women were able to be constrained for so long.

The 911 dispatcher is maddening.

Reminds me of the seeming indifference of the dispatcher in another case; when the social worker called to report she had been locked out of the house by Josh Powell, just before he killed the children (still not over that tragedy). Some of these 911 folks could use a lot more training, imo.

[Older Than Dirt]

http://www.toledonewsnow.com/story/22175...and-police

[NightOwl]

Imsuchawildflower:
I believe Amanda is the one in the middle with the rings.

koko:
Thanks for the update! If Castro's brothers were his accomplices, makes it easier to understand how three young women were able to be constrained for so long.

The 911 dispatcher is maddening.

Reminds me of the seeming indifference of the dispatcher in another case; when the social worker called to report she had been locked out of the house by Josh Powell, just before he killed the children (still not over that tragedy). Some of these 911 folks could use a lot more training, imo.

Thanks! for all the updates ladies. Shocking bloody tale all in Ohio yet, so glad the 3 woman and little girl got out.

911 was a mess, this was a desperate plea for help they thought the fellow was joking. I agree more training is needed at that 911 region.

[HairOfTheDog]

Suspect 1 - Ariel Castro

This is the photo of Ariel Castro that was posted yesterday. Haven't found one released/verified by LE yet. This one is from Facebook and posted with a couple of articles.

[HairOfTheDog]

NEW DETAILS

-Sources close to local station WOIO said that the women were reportedly tied up during their captivity and police found chains hanging from one of the ceilings.

-Castro has lived in the house since 1992. His two brothers - aged 50 and 54 - do not live at the home. Castro was arrested for domestic violence and disorderly conduct in December 1993 though details of this are not yet available.

-Remarkably, Castro's son - also named Ariel who now goes by 'Anthony' - penned an article for the Cleveland Plain Press about the disappearance of Miss DeJesus back in 2004 (SEE POST 7 upthread). Anthony Castro told WKYC-TV reporter Sara Shookman: 'This is beyond comprehension… I’m truly stunned right now'.

-Also struck by the allegations, the suspects' uncle, Julio Castro, told CNN: 'I never want to see them again. For me, it's bad on one side and good on the other side.' Julio Castro said his nephew used to play bass in various bands that performed at a local club once owned by DeJesus' uncle. He said he believes his nephew knew the family from the club and the neighborhood.

- A frequent visitor to the neighborhood reports that Castro kept the house very dark, entered through a side door, and kept pretty much to himself.

This is the house where the 3 young women were held captive.


More here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...THERS.html

[HairOfTheDog]

COPIED FROM "ASSHOLES IN THE NEWS" - POSTED BY @MIKE JONES

CLEVELAND (AP) - Cleveland officials say they have no records of anyone calling about criminal activity at the house where three kidnapped women were kept for years before being found.

A frantic 911 call led police to a house near downtown Cleveland, where the three women were found Monday.

Officials say three brothers, ages 50 to 54, are in custody.

Police say Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were tied up at the house and held there since they were in their teens or early 20s. Knight disappeared in 2002, Berry in 2003 and DeJesus about a year after that.

Police said Tuesday they went to the home in 2004 for an unrelated investigation but no one answered the door.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

The woman's voice was frantic and breathless, and she was choking back tears. "Help me. I'm Amanda Berry," she told a 911 dispatcher. "I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for 10 years and I'm, I'm here, I'm free now."

Those words led police to a house near downtown Cleveland where Berry and two other women who vanished a decade ago were found Monday, elating family members and friends who had longed to see them again.

Authorities later arrested three brothers. They released no names and gave no information about them or what charges they might face. A relative said one of them is the homeowner, his nephew Ariel Castro.

City officials have scheduled a news conference for Tuesday morning.

Police Chief Michael McGrath said he thinks Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were tied up at the house and held there since they were in their teens or early 20s.

A 6-year-old also was found in the home, but police didn't disclose the child's identity or relationship to anyone in the home. The women appeared to be in good health and were taken to a hospital to be evaluated and reunited with relatives.

The three were released from Metro Health Medical Center on Tuesday morning.

Neighbor Juan Perez told NBC's "Today" show that he rarely saw Castro or anyone else at the house.

"I thought the home was vacant. I thought he probably had another property and he would just come and check and see if everything is OK." Perez said. "I didn't even know anybody lived there."

The women's escape and rescue began with a frenzied cry for help.

A neighbor, Charles Ramsey, told WEWS-TV he heard screaming Monday and saw Berry, whom he didn't recognize, at a door that would open only enough to fit a hand through. He said she was trying desperately to get outside and pleaded for help to reach police.

"I heard screaming," he said. "I'm eating my McDonald's. I come outside. I see this girl going nuts trying to get out of a house."

Neighbor Anna Tejeda was sitting on her porch with friends when they heard someone across the street kicking a door and yelling.

Tejeda, 50, said one of her friends went over and told Berry how to kick the screen out of the bottom of the door, which allowed her to get out.

Speaking Spanish, which was translated by one of her friends, Tejeda said Berry was nervous and crying. She was dressed in pajamas and old sandals.

At first Tejeda said she didn't want to believe who the young woman was. "You're not Amanda Berry," she insisted. "Amanda Berry is dead."

But when Berry told her she'd been kidnapped and held captive, Tejeda said she gave her the telephone to call police, who arrived within minutes and then took the other women from the house.

On a recorded 911 call Monday, Berry declared: "I'm Amanda Berry. I've been on the news for the last 10 years."

She said she had been taken by someone and begged for police officers to come to the home on Cleveland's west side before the man returned.

"I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years," she told the dispatcher. "And I'm here. I'm free now."

Berry disappeared at age 16 on April 21, 2003, when she called her sister to say she was getting a ride home from her job at a Burger King. About a year later, DeJesus vanished at age 14 on her way home from school. Police said Knight disappeared in 2002 and is 32 now.

Berry is now 27, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Authorities didn't provide a current age for DeJesus. They were found just a few miles from where they had vanished.

Police said one of the brothers who was arrested, a 52-year-old, lived at the home, and the others, ages 50 and 54, lived elsewhere.

Ramsey, the neighbor, said he'd barbecued with the home's owner and never suspected anything was amiss.

"There was nothing exciting about him – well, until today," he said.

Julio Castro, who runs a grocery store half a block from where the women were found, said the homeowner arrested is his nephew, Ariel Castro.

Berry also identified Ariel Castro by name in her 911 call.

Attempts to reach Ariel Castro in jail were unsuccessful Monday. Messages to the sheriff's office and a jail spokesman went unanswered, and there was no public phone listing for the home, which was being searched by dozens of police officers and sheriff's deputies.

The uncle said Ariel Castro had worked as a school bus driver. The Cleveland school district confirmed he was a former employee but wouldn't release details.

The women's loved ones said they hadn't given up hope of seeing them again.

A childhood friend of DeJesus, Kayla Rogers, said she couldn't wait to hug her.

"I've been praying, never forgot about her, ever," Rogers told The Plain Dealer newspaper.

Berry's cousin Tasheena Mitchell told the newspaper she couldn't wait to have Berry in her arms.

"I'm going to hold her, and I'm going to squeeze her and I probably won't let her go," she said.

Berry's mother, Louwana Miller, who had been hospitalized for months with pancreatitis and other ailments, died in March 2006. She had spent the previous three years looking for her daughter, whose disappearance took a toll as her health steadily deteriorated, family and friends said.

Councilwoman Dona Brady said she had spent many hours with Miller, who never gave up hope that her daughter was alive.

"She literally died of a broken heart," Brady said.

Mayor Frank Jackson expressed gratitude that the three women were found alive. He said there are many unanswered questions in the ongoing investigation.

In January, a prison inmate was sentenced to 4 1⁄2 years after admitting he provided a false burial tip in the disappearance of Berry. A judge in Cleveland sentenced Robert Wolford on his guilty plea to obstruction of justice, making a false report and making a false alarm.

Last summer, Wolford tipped authorities to look for Berry's remains in a Cleveland lot. He was taken to the location, which was dug up with backhoes.

Two men arrested for questioning in the disappearance of DeJesus in 2004 were released from the city jail in 2006 after officers didn't find her body during a search of the men's house.

In September 2006, police acting on a tip tore up the concrete floor of the garage and used a cadaver dog to search unsuccessfully for DeJesus' body. Investigators confiscated 19 pieces of evidence during their search but declined to comment on the significance of the items then.

[HairOfTheDog]

ANOTHER ONE; COPIED FROM "ASSHOLES IN THE NEWS" - POSTED BY @MIKE JONES

CLEVELAND (AP) - Three women who went missing separately about a decade ago were found Monday in a home just south of downtown and likely had been tied up during years of captivity, said police, who arrested three brothers. One of the women said she had been abducted and told a 911 dispatcher, "I'm free now."

Crowds gathered Monday night on the street near the home where the city's police chief said he thought Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight had been held since they went missing when they were in their teens or early 20s.

The women appeared to be in good health and were taken to a hospital to be evaluated and to reunite with relatives. Police said a 6-year-old also was found in the home, but the child's identity or relationship to anyone in the home wasn't revealed.

A neighbor, Charles Ramsey, told WEWS-TV he heard screaming Monday and saw Berry, whom he didn't recognize, at a door that would open only enough to fit a hand through. He said she was trying desperately to get outside and pleaded for help to reach police.

On a recorded 911 call Monday, Berry frantically declared, "I'm Amanda Berry. I've been on the news for the last 10 years."

She said she had been taken by someone and begged for police officers to arrive at the home on Cleveland's west side before he returned.

"I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years," she told the dispatcher. "And I'm here. I'm free now."

Berry disappeared at age 16 on April 21, 2003, when she called her sister to say she was getting a ride home from her job at a Burger King. DeJesus went missing at age 14 on her way home from school about a year later. They were found just a few miles from where they had gone missing.

Police said Knight went missing in 2002 and is 32 now. They didn't provide current ages for Berry or DeJesus.

Police said one of the brothers, a 52-year-old, lived at the home, and the others, ages 50 and 54, lived elsewhere. Authorities released no names and gave no details about them or what charges they might face.

But Julio Castro, who runs a grocery store half a block from where the women were found, said the homeowner arrested is his nephew, Ariel Castro.

Berry also identified Ariel Castro by name in her 911 call.

Attempts to reach Ariel Castro in jail were unsuccessful Monday. Messages to the sheriff's office and a jail spokesman went unanswered, and there was no public phone listing for the home, which was being searched by dozens of police officers and sheriff's deputies.

The uncle said Ariel Castro had worked as a school bus driver. The Cleveland school district confirmed he was a former employee but wouldn't release details.

The women's loved ones said they hadn't given up hope of seeing them again.

A childhood friend of DeJesus, Kayla Rogers, said she couldn't wait to hug her.

"I've been praying, never forgot about her, ever," Rogers told The Plain Dealer newspaper.

Berry's cousin Tasheena Mitchell told the newspaper she couldn't wait to have Berry in her arms.

"I'm going to hold her, and I'm going to squeeze her and I probably won't let her go," she said.

Berry's mother, Louwana Miller, who had been hospitalized for months with pancreatitis and other ailments, died in March 2006. She had spent the previous three years looking for her daughter, whose disappearance took a toll as her health steadily deteriorated, family and friends said.

Councilwoman Dona Brady said she had spent many hours with Miller, who never gave up hope that her daughter was alive.

"She literally died of a broken heart," Brady said.

Mayor Frank Jackson expressed gratitude that the three women were found alive. He said there are many unanswered questions in the ongoing investigation.

At Metro Health Medical Center, Dr. Gerald Maloney wouldn't discuss the women's conditions in detail but said they were being evaluated by appropriate specialists.

"This is really good, because this isn't the ending we usually hear in these stories," he said. "So, we're very happy."

In January, a prison inmate was sentenced to 4 1⁄2 years after admitting he provided a false burial tip in the disappearance of Berry. A judge in Cleveland sentenced Robert Wolford on his guilty plea to obstruction of justice, making a false report and making a false alarm.

Last summer, Wolford tipped authorities to look for Berry's remains in a Cleveland lot. He was taken to the location, which was dug up with backhoes.

Two men arrested for questioning in the disappearance of DeJesus in 2004 were released from the city jail in 2006 after officers didn't find her body during a search of the men's house.

One of the men was transferred to the Cuyahoga County Jail on unrelated charges, while the other was allowed to go free, police said.

In September 2006, police acting on a tip tore up the concrete floor of the garage and used a cadaver dog to search unsuccessfully for DeJesus' body. Investigators confiscated 19 pieces of evidence during their search but declined to comment on the significance of the items then.

No Amber Alert was issued the day DeJesus failed to return home from school in April 2004 because no one witnessed her abduction. The lack of an Amber Alert angered her father, Felix DeJesus, who said in 2006 he believed the public will listen even if the alerts become routine.

"The Amber Alert should work for any missing child," Felix DeJesus said then. "It doesn't have to be an abduction. Whether it's an abduction or a runaway, a child needs to be found. We need to change this law."

Cleveland police said then that the alerts must be reserved for cases in which danger is imminent and the public can be of help in locating the suspect and child.

[RaisingAPrince]

Charles Ramsey, the rescuer

[Duchess]

I watched that last night & I'm so fucked in the head I thought it was funny.