Charles Ramsey, the McDonald’s loving neighbor hailed as a hero for rescuing three women held prisoner in a Cleveland home, was arrested three times for battering his now ex-wife, it has been revealed.
Charles Ramsey, who has become something of a celebrity since the rescue of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight due to his antics with the media, was picked up on domestic violence charges in 1997, 1998 and 2003.
He served six months in jail after he entered a “no contest” plea in 1998 – when he was charged with domestic violence and failing to appear in court following his first arrest, according to documents revealed on Wednesday by The Smoking Gun.
After his third arrest in 2003, Charles Ramsey was sentenced to another eight months in prison. That same year, his wife Rochelle filed for divorce.
Charles Ramsey, who has become something of a celebrity since the rescue of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight due to his antics with the media, was picked up on domestic violence charges in 1997, 1998 and 2003
In an interview with The Smoking Gun, Rochelle said that Charles Ramsey also dodged $51-per-month child support payments for the couple’s daughter.
Meanwhile, a second neighbor, Angel Cordero, claimed he was the one who rescued Amanda Berry – and Charles Ramsey did not arrive at the scene until after the woman was freed.
Speaking Spanish, Angel Cordero told NewsChannel5: “I helped her and I was first.”
Angel Cordero added that by the time Charles Ramsey arrived, Amanda Berry was already “outside with the girl”.
“But the truth who arrived there, who crossed the street, who came and broke the door, it was me.”
But Angel Cordero says that he does not harbor any resentment or jealousy toward Charles Ramsey, as long as the women he helped rescue from the home are OK.
He told the station: “I did what had to be done. I helped her. They have their daughter, daughters are safe over there.”
An alleged suicide letter written by Cleveland kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro in 2004, in which he describes the crimes and admits that he is a sexual predator who “needs help”, is claimed to be in possession of a news reporter.
Ariel Castro, 52, owned the home in which three women – Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight – were held captive for about 10 years before they escaped on Monday.
His home on Seymour Avenue is now a crime scene, with investigators carrying out numerous pieces of evidence – including ropes and chains.
Among the items collected was reportedly a letter, in which Ariel Castro allegedly confesses to his crimes and writes about his desire to kill himself “and give all the money I saved to my victims”.
19 Action News reporter Scott Taylor says he received a copy of the letter, which he claims was written in 2004 and found by police inside Ariel Castro’s house.
An alleged suicide letter written by Cleveland kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro in 2004, in which he describes the crimes, was found at his home
Scott Taylor posted excerpts of the letter on his Twitter page late Wednesday night, including a confession that he was “a sexual predator” and “I need help”.
In one, Scott Taylor says that Ariel Castro didn’t know why he kept looking for another victim, because “I already had 2 in my possession”.
In another, Ariel Castro allegedly wrote that he was surprised how young his daughter’s best friend Gina DeJesus was – because he “thought she was much older”.
One other excerpt revealed by Scott Taylor even appears to blame his victims for their predicament, saying: “They are here against their will because they made a mistake of getting in a car with a total stranger.”
Ariel Castro has been charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. Two of his brothers were also arrested on Monday, but have not been charged in connection to the case.
Police announced the charges on Wednesday – two days after Ariel Castro and his two brothers Pedro and Onil were arrested.
Ariel Castro will make his first court appearance on Thursday amid tight security at Cleveland Municipal Court.
In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, police chief Ed Tomba said the women did not have any opportunity to escape and had only been outside the house twice in the last ten years.
“We were told they left the house and went into the garage in disguise. They never left the property.”
He added: “The first time they have been outside the house in ten years was when they escaped from the house.”
Ed Tomba said Ariel Castro had been cooperating fully with police and had made a detailed statement having read his rights.
Ariel Castro, the man suspected of imprisoning three women for several years in Cleveland, is due to make his first court appearance.
Ariel Castro, 52, has been charged with kidnap and rape.
The women were abducted at different times and held in a house in a suburban street for about a decade. One woman escaped on Monday and raised the alarm.
The police detained two of Ariel Castro’s brothers, but later said they appeared to have no involvement in the crime.
Ariel Castro owned the house from which Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, were rescued.
Police said the women could only remember being outside twice during their time in captivity, and were then only allowed into the garage.
Deputy police chief Ed Tomba said the women were not held in one room “but they did know each other and they did know each other was there”.
Ariel Castro, the man suspected of imprisoning three women for several years in Cleveland, is due to make his first court appearance
Amanda Berry escaped on Monday along with her six-year-old daughter Jocelyn, who was born in captivity.
According to a source close to the investigation, one of the women was forced to help Amanda Berry deliver her daughter, and was threatened with death if the child did not survive.
In a news conference late on Wednesday, authorities said Ariel Castro would be charged with four counts of kidnapping.
The charges covered the three initial abduction victims and Jocelyn.
Ariel Castro was also charged with three counts of rape, one against each woman.
Police said more than 200 pieces of evidence had been taken from the home where the three women were held captive.
They said interviews with the women had yielded enough information to charge Ariel Castro, and that further charges could be added.
Police say Ariel Castro has been co-operating with them, waiving his right to silence and agreeing to a test to establish Jocelyn’s paternity.
Michelle Knight remains in hospital, while the other two women have been released to their families.
On Wednesday hundreds of people gathered around the DeJesus family home, cheering as Gina DeJesus was brought from hospital.
Gina DeJesus, wearing a bright yellow hooded shirt, was escorted into her home by a woman with her arm around her, giving the well-wishers a brief wave.
Amanda Berry and her daughter arrived at her sister’s home shortly before midday on Wednesday.
She disappeared in 2003 aged 16, but escaped on Monday with the help of a neighbor who heard her screaming and kicking a door while her alleged captor was out of the house.
When police arrived, they also found Gina DeJesus and Amanda Knight in the house.
Gina DeJesus had gone missing aged 14 in 2004, while Michelle Knight had disappeared in 2002, aged 20.
Ariel Castro reportedly fled the neighborhood and was arrested at a nearby McDonald’s restaurant, according to local media.
It appears the menu at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner failed to impress the stars of Duck Dynasty reality show.
The culinary review of Willie and Korie Robertson, who sat pretty close to President Barack Obama at the WHCD, was very underwhelming, reports TMZ.
Check the entire menu and see why the A&E stars were disappointed.
The culinary review of Willie and Korie Robertson, who sat pretty close to President Barack Obama at the WHCD, was very underwhelming
WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER MENU 2013:
Salad: Orange and Beet Terrine With Shaved Chard, Fennel and Pistachios, Topped with Jumbo Crabmeat, Green Chili and Ginger Mayo
Bread: Seven Grain Rolls, Sourdough Rolls, White and Wheat Rolls, Flatbreads and Butter
Entrée: Broiled Petite Filet with Béarnaise Sauce, Paired with Poached Halibut with Sun Dried Tomato Chutney, Onion Marmalade Soufflé Whipped Potatoes, Seasonal Baby Vegetables
Dessert: Lord Baltimore Cake, Yellow Cake with Almonds, Brandied Cherries, Macaroon Crumbs, Encased in a Fluffy Meringue
Beverages: Freshly Brewed Regular and Decaffeinated Coffee … Variety of Regular and Herbal Teas
Cleveland police have started searching properties near the home where three missing women were imprisoned for a decade after Michelle Knight told them there could be other girls.
Michelle Knight, who was found at the Cleveland home on Monday after being held against her will for more than 10 years, said that there was another girl at the home around 10 years ago.
But Michelle Knight, who herself was kidnapped in 2002, said the victim then disappeared.
In police interviews she added that she did not know how many other women were in the house because they were all locked in separate rooms, Fox News reported.
Along with his alleged victims, only Ariel Castro lived at the home at Seymour Avenue. His older brother Pedro Castro lived at his mother’s home, while Onil, the youngest of the three brothers, lived alone in his own home “somewhere in the lower west side”, police said.
The details could give hope to the family of Ashley Nicole Summers, who was 14 when she vanished on July 6, 2007 in the same neighborhood from where Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus were taken.
Initially Ashley Summers was considered a runaway as had she lived with her great-uncle and they had argued prior to her disappearance.
But a year later the police and FBI believed Ashley Summers was an “endangered juvenile” who could be “being held again her will”. In 2009, the FBI said they suspected a link between Ashley Summers’ disappearance and those of Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus.
Ashley Summers’ physical appearance and the proximity of her home to the other disappearances lead investigators to suspect the cases were linked and that all three might have been kidnapped by the same man.
Ashley Nicole Summers was 14 when she vanished on July 6, 2007 in the same neighborhood from where Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus were taken
Special Agent Vicki Anderson, of the FBI Cleveland Division told Cleveland.com on Tuesday that Ashley remains in their thoughts as they gather evidence at Ariel Castro’s Seymore Avenue home.
“We are keeping Ashley in our thoughts as we go every step of the way,” she said.
“Whether it is something we find at the house, or someone seeing the stories remembers something, we continue our search for Ashley.”
A cadaver dog, along with various law enforcement officers, searched Ariel Castro’s Cleveland home on Tuesday, said Vicki Anderson. But police revealed they had not found any human remains at the house despite fears up to five babies could be buried in the garden.
But police did confirm on Wednesday that they found ties and chains inside the home.
“We have confirmation that they were bound, and there (were) chains and ropes in the home,” Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath said, adding that authorities did not miss opportunities to find them.
Prior to the disclosure of the naming of the women discovered on Monday, Ashley Summers’ family had briefly thought their daughter could be amongst those discovered.
“We’re hoping that it’s connected, and they knew where she was,” her aunt Debra Summers told CNN.
“We’re hoping for a miracle.”
The Summers family is renewing their efforts to publicize Ashley’s disappearance.
The FBI’s missing person website says Ashley Summers has a tattoo of “Gene” enclosed in a heart on her upper arm, and her birthday is June 16, 1993, making her 19 years old.
Investigators will speak to Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight to see if they know anything about Summers’ disappearance.
On Tuesday, Cleveland Police said: “Every single lead was followed up on no matter how small. We dug up yards, canvassed neighborhoods. [The] real hero is Amanda Berry.”
Until now the search for the missing women had been fruitless, a series of false leads and bitter disappointment for the desperate families.
Michelle Knight, who was 20 years old when she went missing in August 2002, was last seen at a cousin’s house near West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue.
Three years later, in April 2003, Amanda Berry, disappeared after leaving her job at a Burger King – at West 110th Street and Lorain. It was the day before her 17th birthday.
And a year later, Gina DeJesus, then 14 years old, was last seen leaving her middle school at West 105th Street and Lorain.
All three were found safe on Monday night after Amanda Berry bolted from a home on Seymour Avenue, about three miles from where they were last seen.
Amanda Berry told police that she and the other girls were being held prisoner by Ariel Castro, 52, who has been arrested along with his two brothers, Pedro and Onil, on suspicion of kidnapping.
Cadaver dogs appeared at the home following fears babies were born inside the Cleveland house. At least five children may have born at the house, police sources told NewsChannel5.
One victim suffered up to three miscarriages because she was so malnourished, while other sources told WKYC the captors would beat the pregnant women, so that the babies would not survive.
Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi’s conviction for tax fraud has been upheld by an appeals court in Milan.
The court also reinstated a four-year prison sentence and five-year ban from public office Silvio Berlusconi was handed in October.
Silvio Berlusconi was convicted of artificially inflating prices of film distribution rights bought by his company, Mediaset, to avoid taxes.
He is now expected to appeal against Wednesday’s ruling at Italy’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.
Silvio Berlusconi, 76, has denied the charges and said they are politically motivated.
But instead of overturning October’s verdict, the Milan appeals court on Wednesday upheld his conviction for tax evasion and re-instated the original jail sentence. The four-year term had been cut to one year by a lower court because of his age.
Silvio Berlusconi’s conviction for tax fraud has been upheld by an appeals court in Milan
“We knew it would go like this,” Silvio Berlusconi’s defense lawyer Niccolo Ghedini told reporters.
There is however no real prospect of Silvio Berlusconi being jailed, as he will exercise his right to appeal and the case will actually soon expire under a time limit.
Nevertheless, this is another major legal blow for Silvio Berlusconi, whose People of Freedom (PdL) party is part of Italy’s new coalition government.
In the eyes of the law Silvio Berlusconi is a convicted fraudster, but he will argue as he always does that all his legal troubles are the simply the work of his political enemies – left-wing elements in the judiciary.
In March, silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to a year in jail after being convicted of arranging for a police wiretap concerning a political rival to be leaked and published in a newspaper run by his brother. He denied the charges and is expected to appeal.
Silvio Berlusconi is also currently on trial for allegedly paying for sex with an underage prostitute, and later abusing his powers by putting pressure on the police to release her from custody. He has admitted sending her money, but insists the funds were meant as a gift.
In other trials over the years, Silvio Berlusconi has been accused of charges including accounting fraud, perjury, bribery and corruption. He has denied all the accusations against him and has either been acquitted or let off under statutes of limitations.
Silvio Berlusconi’s trials:
Accused of paying for sex with an underage prostitute: Verdict due
Convicted and sentenced to a year in jail for arranging leak of police wiretap
Accused of tax fraud over deals his firm Mediaset made to purchase TV rights to US films: Convicted in October 2012; Sentence upheld by appeals court in May
Two other corruption cases involving tax evasion and bribery of a British lawyer: Expired under statute of limitations
Cleveland kidnap victim Gina DeJesus gave a thumbs up as she arrived home on Wednesday before being hurried into her mother’s home shielded by family.
Gina DeJesus’ homecoming came hours after Amanda Berry made an emotional return to her loved ones following the young women’s courageous escape from ten years in captivity. Michele Knight, 32, and Amanda Berry’s 6-year-old daughter were also freed after the horrifying ordeal.
Hundreds of well-wishers gathered in front of the DeJesus property which was covered in balloons and signs, reading “Welcome home Gina”.
Gina DeJesus’ aunt Nancy Ruiz spoke on Wednesday and asked for the family to be given time to heal. She thanked those who had supported the family over the years along with the police and FBI for all their hard work.
Nancy Ruiz appealed to the public to be on the look-out for another missing girl Ashley Summers, who was snatched in 2007 from the same Cleveland neighborhood when she was 14.
She said: “There are not enough words to say or express for the joy we feel for the return of our family member Gina.
“We are asking for your support to be patient with us. Give us time and privacy to heal. When we’re ready, I promise you…we will talk to you.”
Gina DeJesus’ mother and father smiled and gave thumbs up to supporters.
“They never gave up hope. Felix never gave up hope that she was alive,” said neighbor Michael Pendershot, 47, who lives three houses down from the DeJesus family.
Everyone in the neighborhood said Gina DeJesus’s kidnapping in 2004 changed them in some way.
Gina DeJesus returns home after ten years in captivity
“After she went missing, my parents didn’t hardly let me out of the house. They never let me walk anywhere,” said Taydreet Maurosa, 20.
Taydreet Maurosa was just 11 when Gina DeJesus went missing. She said the case was in the back of her mind every day as she grew up.
Men wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “guardian angel” stood behind police tape in front of the property as a huge crowd applauded and cheered for the young woman.
Gina DeJesus, 23, arrived home wearing what appeared to be the same yellow, hooded sweatshirt that Amanda Berry had been seen in.
Amanda Berry, 27, was surrounded by police as she swept into the driveway of her sister’s home in Cleveland, Ohio in a motorcade this morning.
One officer carried her 6-year-old young daughter Jocelyn, in a white-hooded sweatshirt, through the back door of the house.
The house had been decked with balloons, flowers, teddy bears and banners which read “We love you Mandy”.
Crowds of neighbors cheered as her sister Beth Serrano appeared from her home minutes later.
Beth Serrano’s voice wavered as she thanked the public and media for their support over many years
She said: “We are so happy to have Amanda home. We request privacy to recover.”
Amanda Berry went missing in 2003 aged 16, a day before her 17th anniversary, but her family say they never gave up hope that she was still alive.
Six police motorcycle outriders escorted her to the house on W 129th street that was festooned with balloons and messages of goodwill.
Weeping friends and several cousins surged forward to the mini-van containing Amanda Berry and her 6-year-old daughter Jocelyn who was born in captivity.
One friend with tears streaming down her face, leaned into the car before it swept into the driveway of the home.
Many in the large crowd wept as they glimpsed Amanda Berry for the first time since she went missing.
Family friend Abby Turnvill said: “This is such a special day. Just to see her again is, like wow. I can’t wait to talk with her and catch up. We got a lot of catching up to do.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Amanda Berry heard her grandmother’s voice for the first time in a decade, with the moment being captured on camera.
Fern Gentry fought back tears as she spoke on the phone to her granddaughter, hours after the daring escape from a Cleveland house.
Kim Kardashian showed off her blossoming baby bump in a bikini during a recently family holiday to Greece.
Kim Kardashian, 32, displayed her curvy frame in a burgundy two piece in a photograph featured on the cover of this week’s issue of Us Weekly.
“Kim is feeling very confident in her body,” a source, who spent time on the Greek islands with the Kardahians, told Us Weekly.
“She had no second thoughts about wearing bikinis on the trip.
“Three months ago she just wanted to have the baby and be done. Now she is feeling more feminine and more maternal.”
Kim Kardashian has been plagued by Internet trolls and critics of her pregnancy weight gain – she recently admitted she has trouble finding flattering clothes for her figure.
“I’ve gotten wider but my belly hasn’t popped yet,” she blogged back in March.
Kim Kardashian shows off her blossoming baby bump in a bikini as she proves fat critics wrong
“So I struggle finding things that don’t make me look heavy.”
Kim Kardashian has previously acknowledged her body changes have been “hard to accept”, and a source told the magazine that the stinging criticism had prompted her to swap her favorite clinging clothes for looser ensembles.
Focused on staying in shape throughout her pregnancy, Kim Kardashian has ensured she’s made time for regular exercise with celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson.
“Kim is working hard but listening to her body,” Tracy Anderson told Us weekly.
“We focus mainly on her arms and legs, training one hour four times a week, depending on how she feels.”
Meanwhile, the reality star’s mother Kris Jenner also revealed Kim is in a good place with her first pregnancy.
“She’s just embracing the whole thing,” Kris Jenner told Us Weekly.
“It just makes me very proud. She’s happier than she’s ever been.”
Kim Kardashian is in the third trimester of her pregnancy – she and boyfriend Kanye West are expecting their first baby in the summer.
However, the source said that Kim Kardashian has a “high pain threshold” and is not worried about childbirth.
“Kim is not scared at all and has no fears,” the insider said, adding that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West will definitely not be airing footage from the birth on E!
And although Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have spent a great deal of time apart recently due to work commitments, things are said to be going better than ever in their relationship.
“They talk 100 times a day,” said a friend.
“They never let more than two weeks go by without seeing each other.”
In fact, Kanye West is said to have spent a substantial amount of time on creating a nursery for the new arrival at his Paris pad – Kim Kardashian left her family in Greece to jet in to the French capital to check it out for herself.
“They have a huge apartment there,” said a source.
“She wanted to check on the place because Kanye has been busy making the cutest baby room.”
Earlier this year Vladimir Tretchikoff’s portrait Chinese Girl, often referred to as The Green Lady, was sold for almost £1 million ($1.5 million) at auction in London.
This is the story of Monika Pon-su-san (born Sing-Lee), who modeled for one of the most popular prints ever made:
One day in 1950, a curly-haired stranger walked into my uncle’s laundry in Cape Town, where I worked.
He stood there as I served a customer, his eyes fixed on me the whole time. He only spoke when we were alone together in the shop.
“Hello!” he said. “I’m Tretchikoff. I’d love to paint you.”
Monika Sing-Lee, who modeled for Vladimir Tretchikoff’s most iconic work, was 17 when she was spotted by the artist working in her uncle’s laundrette in South Africa
At that time Vladimir Tretchikoff wasn’t very famous but by chance I had read about him in a newspaper just the Saturday before.
So I was a bit nervous, but I said yes. He picked me up after work and took me back home.
I was given his wife’s gown to put on. It was silk chiffon – beautiful, beautiful stuff. It wasn’t yellow like in the painting – that was his own invention.
A lot of people ask me: “What is that stern look you had on your face? What were you thinking about?” And I always say: “Well you know, one gets tired sitting and just looking.”
Vladimir Tretchikoff’s portrait Chinese Girl, often referred to as The Green Lady, was sold for almost $1.5 million at auction in London
All the time I was thinking about Tretchikoff’s life. Because he had had a miserable life – during the war he’d been on a boat for three weeks without food, after his ship was bombed. Then he was imprisoned by the Japanese.
He had lost contact with his wife and daughter. Thinking they were dead he took a lover, but they weren’t dead, and as fate would have it they went to Cape Town, which is where he ended up too. So they got back together again.
I liked him very much. He was a funny man – we always laughed a lot. In all, I was paid six pounds and five shillings for the work.
He had a class of about 20 pupils. All the time I was sitting for him they could see me but I was never allowed to see the painting – it always had its back to me.
I would nag him: “What are you going to call it?” He said that a name would come to him later on. It was only at the end of the six or 10 weeks – I can’t remember exactly how long it took – on the night his exhibition opened that he said it was called Chinese Girl. I thought that was very ordinary.
And when I saw the painting I was so shocked. I thought I looked like a monster from a horror film. I pulled an ugly face and said: “Ugh – green face!”
Right away people started to recognize me. I remember going to a supermarket and a woman shouted: “Look at this girl! She looks just like the painting!”
I decided I had to buy a print. By the time I went to him Tretchikoff had run out, so he gave me one he had used in London when he was on tour. I’ve got it in my lounge.
There was a block of flats in Cape Town, filled with artists. The man on the ground floor was a sculptor and one day he asked Tretchikoff: “Can I borrow your model?” He wanted to cast a bronze of my face. But Tretchikoff said: “Certainly not!”
I had so many modelling offers but – stupid me – I went and got married and had children, so that was that. I didn’t socialize much, with five children to look after, so I was hidden away from Cape Town’s artists. The offers stopped coming.
I was so disappointed to miss the auction recently. My daughters said to me: “The painting’s sold! The painting’s sold!” And when I found out it had gone for £1 million, I jumped up and down, up and down!
Everybody’s fascinated by that painting. I don’t know what it is about it really.
One of my daughters – the second youngest, who is supposed to look like me – said: “I wish I had a lot of money and then I would buy that painting and keep it forever in my own house.”
When I was asked by a journalist if I would let another artist paint me at this moment in time, I said: “No… but if Tretchikoff were alive, I would let him paint me again.”
As Salman Khan’s love life always grabs attention, a rumor doing the rounds these days links the Bollywood superstar to Romanian TV presenter Iulia Vantur.
A Mumbai-based tabloid has even claimed that Salman Khan and Iulia Vantur are all set to tie the knot.
Such reports are not entirely new, though. Salman Khan and Iulia Vantur were romantically linked about two years ago, too.
Although insiders insisted then that the two are just friends, gossip suggesting a romantic relationship started just because Iulia Vantur was spotted wearing a Being Human T-shirt. The tabloid report is in contrast to what Salman Khan, 47, some time ago declared to a daily. He has stated that he would never get married. The current rumors about Salman Khan’s love interest Iulia Vantur triggered off when eyewitnesses spotted the actor with the blonde Romanian in Mumbai recently.
A rumor doing the rounds these days links Bollywood superstar Salman Khan to Romanian TV presenter Iulia Vantur
These days, 32-year-old Iulia Vantur is on a trip to India and is reportedly staying at a five-star hotel in Bandra.
While sections of the media were quick to term Iulia Vantur as the new girl in Salman Khan’s life, others speculated that the actor could be planning to launch her in a new film. There is a possibility of her getting a break on a popular TV show Salman Khan hosts.
Iulia Vantur is a well known name in the world of Romanian showbiz, as a model, TV show presenter and news anchor. Two years ago, Salman Khan is said to have been introduced to Iulia Vantur during one of his trips abroad. The two have since maintained their friendship.
As always, Salman Khan remained silent about the speculations.
A 911 dispatcher is under investigation after taking Amanda Berry’s call seconds after she fled the Cleveland dungeon where she and two others had been held captive for a decade.
The desperate call for help led to the discovery of Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, who were found alive on Monday inside a house in the west side of the city.
But the 911 dispatcher – one of the first people Amanda Berry spoke to after her decade long captivity – has been criticized for not comforting the distressed caller and not keeping the 26-year-old on the phone until the police arrived.
The dispatcher came under fire as it was revealed last night that police bungled three calls that could have led to the earlier rescue of the sex slave victims.
Amanda Berry’s phone call on Monday evening from a neighbor’s phone lasted less than two minutes.
Amanda Berry, who disappeared in 2003 aged 14, is heard screaming down the phone to an Ohio police operator: “I’ve been kidnapped and I’ve been missing for 10 years, and I’m, I’m here, I’m free now.”
But multiple times the dispatcher’s response was: “Talk to the police when they get there,” before asking the name of Amanda Berry’s captor, as well as his age and ethnicity.
In the 911 call Amanda Berry implores the dispatcher that she needs the police immediately, but she is told authorities will be sent as soon as a “car becomes open”.
A 911 dispatcher is under investigation after taking Amanda Berry’s call seconds after she fled the Cleveland dungeon where she and two others had been held captive for a decade
At one point when Amanda Berry says: “I’m Amanda Berry. I’ve been on the news for the last 10 years,” the dispatcher replies: “I got that, dear.”
In the recording the emotional cries from Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight can be heard.
As Amanda Berry becomes more frantic the dispatcher says: “The police are on their way; talk to them when they get there.”
The dispatcher, whose identity has not been revealed, repeats again: “I told you they’re on their way; talk to them when they get there, OK.”
“One of the things that jumped out was that after the dispatch took the information, she moved on to the next call. I think that realizing the gravity of the situation, the dispatch might have stayed on the call with that person,” Gary Allen, a dispatcher for 20 years in Berkeley, California told the Daily Beast.
“You generally want to hold the person on the phone and try to make a personal connection until law enforcement can get there.”
CBS58played the full 9-1-1 call for Kenosha County Telecommunications and Training Officer Sandy Zuerlein, who admitted she would have kept Amanda Berry on the phone.
“In this call, she was afraid that the man who had her was coming back. If I had kept her on the phone, and he came back, we could have alerted officers,” Sandy Zuerlein said.
In response Cleveland Department of Public Safety Director Martin Flask said police were dispatched and on scene in the west side neighborhood in less than 2 minutes.
“While the call-taker complied with policies and procedures which enabled a very fast response by police, we have noted some concerns which will be the focus of our review, including the call-taker’s failure to remain on the line with Ms. Berry until police arrived on scene.
“Please be assured that this matter will be investigated, and if necessary, appropriate corrective action taken.
“I would like to note that the call-taker did take the call, create an event and send it to the channel dispatcher in less than 90 seconds. Within 1 minutes and 18 seconds from the time that the call-taker answered the call our dispatcher was broadcasting the assignment to available police units.
“As a result of the call-taker’s actions, police were dispatched and on scene in less than 2 minutes”
Meanwhile it emerged that police bungled three calls that could have led to the earlier rescue of the trio held in a house of horrors.
On one occasion, neighbors saw three naked girls on all fours with dog collars around their necks and three men controlling them in the back garden – but police didn’t even bother responding to their call.
The shocking revelations emerged last night as more details emerged about the nightmare ordeal suffered by the three women – Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight – who were finally rescued from their suburban prison in Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday.
The sadistic kidnappers raped their victims repeatedly over the last ten years, resulting in several pregnancies and the birth of at least one child, according to US reports.
At least two of the women held captive in Ariel Castro’s house in Cleveland for about a decade were raped by their captors, it was revealed today by an unnamed source close to the investigation.
One woman was forced to help Amanda Berry give birth and was threatened with death if the baby died, the source said as two of the women returned home.
Cleveland’s police chief has said the women were bound with ropes and chains.
Former school bus driver Ariel Castro, 52, has been arrested along with his two brothers, Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50.
Ariel Castro owns the home where the three women were found.
The source said one of the women became pregnant many times and had multiple miscarriages.
Another woman became pregnant and was so badly beaten she lost the baby, the source added.
The source also said the woman who helped Amanda Berry deliver her daughter, Jocelyn, now 6, was threatened with death if the child did not survive.
At least two of the women held captive in Ariel Castro’s house in Cleveland for about a decade were raped by their captors
Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered around the DeJesus family home, cheering as 23-year-old Gina DeJesus arrived.
Gina DeJesus, wearing a bright yellow hooded shirt, was escorted into her home by a woman with her arm around her.
In a news conference outside the house, members of her family appealed to neighbors to help find a fourth missing girl, Ashley Summers, who has not been seen since 2007 when she was 14 years old.
“There are not enough words to say or express the joy that we feel for the return of our family member Gina, and now Amanda Berry, her daughter and Michelle Knight who is our family also,” said Sandra Ruiz, Gina DeJesus’ aunt.
She praised the FBI and Cleveland police for their long-time support, and asked neighbors not to retaliate against the suspects’ family.
Felix DeJesus, Gina DeJesus’ father, said people needed to watch out for children in their neighborhood, exhorting the community to “fix” the problem.
Amanda Berry, 27, arrived at her sister’s home shortly before midday on Wednesday, along with her daughter Jocelyn, apparently conceived and born in captivity.
Police Chief Michael McGrath said Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and the third victim, Michelle Knight, 32, were in good condition “considering the circumstances”, in an interview with NBC.
Chief Michael McGrath added that while in captivity, the women were sometimes allowed outside in the garden.
Meanwhile, Cleveland public safety director Martin Flask said that no human remains had been found at the home, after “a thorough search”. Police have said they are also investigating other properties.
Ariel Castro is accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing the three women; his brothers are accused of complicity in the same offences, according to arrest documents.
The police chief said investigators were interviewing the Castro brothers, and they were talking.
Charges against the three suspects may be announced later.
Chief Michael McGrath disputed claims by neighbors that police did not fully investigate reports of suspicious activity at 2207 Seymour Avenue, which is in a working-class, mostly Puerto Rican district.
Amanda Berry escaped on Monday with the help of a neighbor who heard her screaming and kicking a door while her alleged captor was out of the house.
When police arrived they also found Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight in the house. Gina DeJesus had gone missing aged 14 in 2004, while Michelle Knight had disappeared in 2002, aged 20.
Ariel Castro reportedly fled the neighborhood and was arrested at a nearby McDonald’s restaurant, according to local media.
His son, Anthony Castro, told London’s Daily Mail newspaper that his father would not let him inside on his last visit to Seymour Avenue.
“The house was always locked,” he said.
“There were places we could never go. There were locks on the basement. Locks on the attic. Locks on the garage.”
It is unclear when the other Castro brothers were detained.
McDonald’s have reached out to Charles Ramsey, the man being dubbed a hero and a legend in Cleveland and told him they will be in touch as yet another hilarious interview with Ariel Castro’s neighbor hits the internet.
Charles Ramsey, who is responsible for freeing Amanda Berry and two other women who were being held captive at his neighbor’s home, joined CNN’s Anderson Cooper to re-tell the events of the heroic evening which led to the freedom of Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus.
In a lengthy and animated interview with Anderson Cooper, Charles Ramsey describes the moment he heard Amanda Berry screaming from his neighbor’s home, the dramatic moment he kicked the door in to rescue her and the 911 call he made to the “moron” dispatcher, all while holding his half-eaten Big Mac.
When Anderson Cooper asked him what neighbor Ariel Castro was like, Charles Ramsey said: “He was cool, he wasn’t no freak of nature, he was like me and you. He talked about the same things me and you do bro.”
Charles Ramsey revealed that he actually spoke to Ariel Castro earlier that day because the mail man had put his mail into Ramsey’s mailbox. He said that Ariel Castro drove off and he cycled to McDonald’s.
Charles Ramsey, who is a dishwasher, brushed off his hero status, telling Anderson Cooper that he just had to “do the right thing”, adding: “Bro, I’m a Christian, an American, and just like you. We bleed the same blood, put our pants on the same way.
Charles Ramsey joined CNN’s Anderson Cooper to re-tell the events of the heroic evening which led to the freedom of Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus
“It’s just that you got to put that – being a coward, and I don’t want to get in nobody’s business. You got to put that away for a minute.”
He also revealed he is traumatized and has had trouble sleeping after learning what was taking place right next door to him.
“Up until yesterday, the only thing that kept me from losing sleep was lack of money. You know what I’m saying? But now that that’s going on and I think I could have done this last year…”
He also says that any reward money should not be given to him, but to the three women who had lost so many years of their lives being held captive.
“I tell you what you do, give it to them… you know I got a job anyway” he said before pulling out his paycheck that he just picked up and showing it to Anderson Cooper.
Yesterday, after giving several zany interviews which catapulted him to internet celebrity status, Charles Ramsey’s mentions of McDonald’s caught the attention of the fast food chain.
McDonald’s later tweeted: “We salute the courage of Ohio kidnap victims & respect their privacy. Way to go Charles Ramsey – we’ll be in touch.”
Charles Ramsey’s expletive-filled 911 call is garnering just as much attention as his interviews.
He explains to the dispatcher: “Hey bro I’m at 2207 Seymour Avenue, West 25th. Hey check this out, I just came from McDonald’s right? And I’m on my porch eating my little food and this broad is trying to break outa the f***ing house next door to me.
“There was a bunch of people on the street right now and sh** and we are like, <<What’s wrong with you, what’s the problem?>>
“And she’s like, <<This mother f***er has kidnapped me and my daughter>>. Said her name is Linda Berry or some shit. I don’t know who the fuck that is, I just moved over here bro.”
The dispatcher asks Charles Ramsey to calm down and slow down and tries to ascertain what is happening and where they are.
He explains that he is looking at Amanda Berry, who is on the phone with a different dispatcher. Charles Ramsey explains that she is white, but her child is Hispanic and that she is wearing “a white tank top and blue sweat pants”.
Charles Ramsey is then asked if Amanda Berry needs an ambulance and he can be heard shouting over to her.
“You need an ambulance or what? She needs everything, she in a panic, she’s been kidnapped you know? So put yourself in her shoes.”
Michelle Knight, one of the three women freed from a decade of imprisonment in a Cleveland home, is reportedly suffering hearing loss and facial bone damage after years of vicious beatings to her head, it has emerged.
Michelle Knight, now 32, who vanished in 2002, was found at a Cleveland home on Monday with two other women and a six-year-old girl – but she has not yet contacted her mother for a reunion.
The first details about Michelle Knight are emerging as images of her have finally been released. They show her as a teenager before she was kidnapped – at a time when she endured an often troubled relationship with her family.
She had given birth to a son who was later taken into the custody of child services, and authorities suggested to her mother that she may have fled following the upset from the ordeal.
Her mother, Barbara Knight, left her home in Naples, Florida, on Tuesday to head to Cleveland to see Michelle but they have not yet been reunited, she told the Today show.
Barbara Knight, 50, said she never gave up hope and will now be able to introduce Michelle to the half sister she has never met, 10-year-old Katie, who was born after she disappeared.
Katie was with her mother as they left for the airport on Tuesday afternoon.
On Wednesday, Barbara Knight spoke to the Today show about how she had never given up hope that her daughter was alive – but that she was led to believe the woman, then in her 20s, had fled.
“Certain people said she didn’t want nothing to do with me but still in my heart I thought no, because I knew my Michelle,” she said.
“They figured she just left because of the baby and everything.
“[Police] told me if she breaks the law or they spot her, they’ll let me know – but nothing happened.”
Barbara Knight, who said she filed a missing persons report after Michelle vanished and continued to search for her, said her sons have been reunited with Michelle but she has not yet seen her.
“I don’t want her to think that I forgot about her,” Barbara Knight said.
“Hopefully whatever happened between us, if something did – I hope it heals because I really want to take her back to Florida with me.”
Michelle Knight vanished in 2002 but she was never registered as missing on the Ohio Missing Persons website
Sources told Fox 8 that Michelle Knight appears to have facial bone damage from her horrific treatment.
But Barbara Knight said that she knew little about what had happened to Michelle since she last saw her as she has not spoken with detectives, she said.
“There was a detective who called me but he just said it was my daughter,” she said, adding that she missed his call and that he had left work when she called back.
“I didn’t get a hold of anyone.”
Instead, she only knows the details from watching news reports.
While the stories of missing Cleveland girls Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry, who were also found on Monday, have remained high-profile cases over the last decade, little is known of Michelle Knight.
While family appeals for Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry have been frequent and well-publicized over the past ten years, her case appears to have been long forgotten.
Now believed to be aged around 32, Michelle Knight was in her early twenties when she was last seen on August 23, 2002, at her cousin’s house near West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue.
Barbara Knight said she would often put up fliers around Cleveland’s West Side and even after moving away she would return to continue the search on her own as police were little help.
Michelle Knight’s grandmother, Deborah Knight, said the family, after speaking with police and social workers, had accepted that she likely left on her own free will.
They believed Michelle Knight was angry that her son had been taken into custody.
Barbara Knight previously told The Plain Dealer that her daughter vanished shortly after she was scheduled for a court appearance in the custody case of her son.
The mother told the paper that Michelle Knight had become involved with an abusive man whom she thinks injured her toddler grandson, eventually leading Michelle to lose the boy.
Michelle Knight had him as a teenager; her mother said that she had been assaulted at school but it was never taken seriously by police. She then fell pregnant soon after and dropped out of school.
Michelle Knight was never registered as missing on the Ohio Missing Persons website.
Barbara Knight told The Plain Dealer she believes she once saw her daughter walking with an older man at a shopping mall several years ago. When the woman trailed behind her companion, he would grab her by the arm and pull her along, she said.
The mother was “calmly” looking forward to the reunion according to neighbors in Naples, where she lives with her second husband Tom Hudson and members of his family.
“It’s an emotional time for them,” said Sheldon Gofberg who lives across the street from the family’s house in the southwest Florida town.
“They didn’t get any sleep last night.”
Sheldon Gofberg said neighbors had no idea that Barbara Knight was the mother of a missing girl and that she appeared to have her hands full looking after Katie and helping with Tom Hudson’s two children, Julian, 16, and his sister Alex, 8.
“They’re a friendly family, Tom would do anything to help you, give you the shirt off his back,” Sheldon Gofberg said.
Despite the turmoil, Tom Hudson kept a commitment with Sheldon Gofberg to take him to a Home Depot.
“We were in the car driving and Tom said, <<You know those three girls they found in the house in Cleveland? One of them was Barbara’s daughter>>. I was astounded,” Sheldon Gofberg said.
“I said, <<She’s got to be pretty emotional?>> and he said, <<Not really because we’ve been waiting to hear back from the FBI>>.”
The family had refused to talk to reporters and TV crews waiting outside their home, sending the teenage boy Julian, who was wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet, outside to ask them to leave.
After 10 years being held against their will, the three women – Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight – were finally freed after neighbor Charles Ramsey, heard screaming from the house and helped them escape through a door.
Jocelyn is the little girl born to Amanda Berry, one of three women imprisoned in a Cleveland home for a decade.
The 6-year-old girl is “happy and healthy” despite being brought up in captivity, authorities have revealed.
After kidnap victim Amanda Berry, 27, courageously escaped the home on Monday, she told her grandmother that the child is her daughter Jocelyn, who was born at Christmas six years ago.
Authorities believe that Jocelyn’s father is one of the three brothers arrested in connection with the kidnappings and they are now carrying out paternity tests to confirm their suspicions.
Jocelyn was home-schooled by her mother, possibly without the knowledge of the suspects, Ariel Castro, 52, and his two brothers Onil Castro, 50, and Pedro Castro, 54.
The girl, who escaped the home with Amanda Berry and two other missing women, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, was pictured grinning in hospital alongside her mother and her aunt Beth.
Jocelyn is the little girl born to Amanda Berry, one of three women imprisoned in a Cleveland home for a decade
Jocelyn, who authorities said enjoyed popsicles while being examined by doctors, is photographed lightly touching her mother’s arm and showing off her missing two front teeth.
“She looks great, happy, healthy and ate a popsicle last night,” Cleveland Police Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said.
“Seeing her mother smile made her smile.”
Ed Tomba added that it was “a good possibility” that one of the three suspects was her father.
It is feared other babies were born inside the Cleveland house. At least five children may have born at the house, police sources told NewsChannel5.
One victim suffered up to three miscarriages because she was so malnourished, while other sources told WKYC the captors would beat the pregnant women, so that the babies would not survive.
It is unknown what happened to any children who were born at the home.
FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson told ABC TV that the three women had spent time together at Metro Medical Center hospital, where they were taken after being freed.
She described them as being in very good spirits and said it was obvious that they were very close.
“You could see that they had a bond, that they had been through this together,” Vicki Anderson said.
All three women were abducted between 2002 and 2004, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus were in their teens at the time of their kidnappings and Michelle Knight was 20 years old.
On Monday evening, Amanda Berry began screaming from behind the locked front door of the home and was helped out by a neighbor. She fled the home and called 911.
Authorities are now investigating how the horrors inside the home went undetected for so long.
Neighbor Israel Lugo said other neighbors had seen naked women crawling on all fours behind Ariel Castro’s house. Three men were in the garden and were controlling the women, he said.
“We thought it was funny at first, and then we thought that was weird so we called the cops,” neighbor Nina Samoylicz told CNN.
“They thought we was playing, joking, they didn’t believe us.”
Neighbors waited for police for two hours but no patrol cars showed up.
Cleveland police said that the department has no records of a call for service to that home.
But the claim is one of a number of stories to have emerged from neighbors who say they reported unusual goings-on at Ariel Castro’s Seymour Avenue, Cleveland home to local police who either didn’t respond or didn’t enter the house when they did show up.
Former cricketer and leading Pakistani politician Imran Khan is recuperating in hospital after falling off a makeshift lift that was taking him onto a stage at an election rally in Lahore.
Doctors say that Imran Khan received stitches in the head and treatment for injuries to his spine.
But they say that his spinal cord has not been seriously damaged and he has been moved out of intensive care.
Meanwhile there has been more violence ahead of the elections.
At least three people have been killed and about 25 injured – including six policemen – in a suicide bombing outside a police station in the Bannu region of north-western Pakistan.
Police said that it was not clear if the target was the police station itself or a nearby rally being held by the Awami National Party (ANP).
The Pakistani Taliban have threatened to prevent the ANP, as well the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the MQM party, from conducting their election campaigns because they are considered by the militants to be too liberal.
Imran Khan is recuperating in hospital after falling off a makeshift lift that was taking him onto a stage at an election rally in Lahore
Imran Khan – who had a total of 15 stitches in his head and suffered two minor back fractures – was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of fall which may have helped protect him from more serious injury, his family said on Wednesday.
Hospital spokesman Khawaja Nazir told the AFP news agency that Imran Khan also had a small injury to his shoulder.
“There is nothing serious to his injuries. He has been shifted from the ICU (intensive care unit) to a private room,” he said.
In a televised statement from his hospital bed on Tuesday night, Imran Khan told his supporters that the election was their fight, not his. He urged voters to decide on polling day this Saturday whether they wanted to make a “new Pakistan”.
“The people should exert full force on 11 May to get their lives changed,” he said.
Nawaz Sharif, the man widely seen as the frontrunner to be the next prime minister, has sent his sympathies to Imran Khan and cancelled his election appearances for Wednesday.
Imran Khan is being treated at the cancer hospital in Lahore he arranged to be built after his mother’s death.
Doctors there said on Wednesday that he would have a CT scan later in the day and that he had been advised that he would need at least a week’s bed rest.
It is unclear whether the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party leader will take this advice.
His plan had been to keep up his punishing schedule of election rallies in these final two days of official campaigning.
Dramatic television pictures from Tuesday’s campaign rally showed Imran Khan falling about 15ft from the lift platform together with several others, some of whom appeared to land on top of him.
A dazed and bloodied Imran Khan was later seen being carried away by supporters to a vehicle which drove him to hospital.
Hundreds of people remain outside the hospital awaiting more news of his condition. Many chanted “Long live Imran Khan”.
The PTI leader has been campaigning relentlessly in the run-up to Saturday’s poll and briefly collapsed on stage earlier this week.
Imran Khan is one of the key candidates in the election, and the PTI appears to have been gaining momentum.
North Korea will no longer be rewarded for provocative behavior, said President Barack Obama at a joint news conference with South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye.
Flanked by President Park Geun-hye, Barack Obama told a White House briefing North Korea was more isolated than ever.
Park Geun-hye is on her first foreign trip since taking office in February.
Ahead of their meeting, US officials said North Korea had moved two medium-range missiles from a coastal launch site, lowering tensions.
“The days when North Korea could create a crisis and elicit concessions, those days are over,” Barack Obama told Tuesday’s briefing after meeting privately with Park Geun-hye in the Oval Office.
He added: “President Park and myself very much share the view that we are going to maintain a strong deterrent, we’re not going to reward provocative behavior, but we remain open to the prospect of North Korea taking a peaceful path.”
“So far, at least, we haven’t seen actions on the part of the North Koreans that would indicate they’re prepared to move in a different direction,” he said.
North Korea will no longer be rewarded for provocative behavior, said President Barack Obama at a joint news conference with South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye
The visit by Park Geun-hye, South Korea’s first female president, came as the US and South Korea mark 60 years of their military alliance.
Park Geun-hye said South Korea would not tolerate what she called North Korean aggression and escalation.
“Instead of just hoping to see North Korea change, the international community must consistently send the message with one voice, to tell them and communicate to them that they have no choice but to change,” she said.
Pyongyang was believed to have been preparing for a missile launch last month, having threatened attacks in the region.
The threats followed tough new UN sanctions imposed on North Korea in March after its third nuclear test.
North Korea has also been angered by wide-ranging annual US-South Korea military drills, which ended a week ago.
Meanwhile, the state-owned Bank of China said it was halting transactions from North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank on Tuesday.
It is thought to be the first time that a Chinese entity has made a move against North Korean interests following the recent tension.
American citizen Robel Phillipos is one of the three more suspects arrested last month in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings.
Robel Phillipos’s past and character isn’t as much of a mystery to us as fellow suspects Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, but the question still remains, how did this former daycare worker turn into a suspect?
Seeing what happens to Robel Phillipos, who is an American citizen like his colleague and friend Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, will show us how investigators and law officials treat someone who allegedly aided suspect accused of terrorism.
Robel Phillipos, 19, isn’t charged with physically tampering with evidence, more specifically throwing out Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s backpack, but he is being charged with lying to federal investigators over the course of four interviews.
“The only allegation he made is a misrepresentation,” his lawyer Derege Demissie said.
Robel Phillipos and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were classmates even before college. Robel Phillipos, according to school officials who spoke to Bloomberg, was a 2011 graduate of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also graduated in 2011, and actually received a $2,500 scholarship. What isn’t clear is how close they were in school.
“A yearbook photograph shows a smiling Phillipos. Almost directly in front of him, Tsarnaev stares at the camera – his hand gently resting under his chin,” reads the CNN report, but that doesn’t tell us if or how close Robel Phillipos and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were friends in high school. And though there are multiple reports from friends, neighbors, and people who played basketball with Robel Phillipos, none of them have commented on the type of friendship, if any, that he and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had. He and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were classmates for a brief period at UMass Dartmouth.
Robel Phillipos is one of the three more suspects arrested last month in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings
Robel Phillipos dropped out of School to take care his sick mother.
UMass Dartmouth said that Robel Phillipos, like Dias Kadyrbayev, was not a student at the time of his arrest. But reports say that before he dropped out, he was studying marketing.
“According to a former classmate and friend who worked with Phillipos at a daycare center, Phillipos was attending classes remotely at the time of his arrest because he was staying home to care for his mother, who is ill,” report Erin Baldassari and Amy Saltzman for the Cambridge Chronicle. Though the daycare center where Robel Phillipos worked at isn’t specified, we know he was also active in the Cambridge Kids Council, Cambridge Kids’ Council – a program chaired by the mayor of Cambridge and is, according to its website, “dedicated to developing policy recommendations and programs aimed at improving the quality of life for children, youth and families in the City of Cambridge.”
Robel Phillipos, according to USA Today, was raised by his mother, Genet Bekele, who herself was an immigrant from Ethiopia.
“She is a single mother and works with refugees,” NBC Boston reported, while the Cambridge Chronicle team added: “A devout Protestant, Phillipos’ mother worked directly with refugees and often involved herself in charitable work, the friend said.”
“Do What You Have to Do.”
That’s the phrase that Robel Phillipos is quoted as saying in the criminal complaint. He apparently muttered those words to Dias Kadyrbayev, while discussing what to do with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s backpack. That sounds like reluctance on Robel Phillipos’s part, and according to one of his friends, that’s his catchphrase when he doesn’t like what’s going on. The Chronicle report reads: “One friend said Phillipos wasn’t prone to drama and would often detach himself from sticky situations. Defending allegations that Phillipos lied to investigators to protect Tsarnaev, friends said Phillipos didn’t get in trouble often.
“I know Robel, if he’s not with something, he’s going to say, <<You do you>>. That’s how Robel works,” a friend said, referring to the criminal complaint that quotes Phillipos as reportedly saying, <<Do what you have to do>>.”
Robel Phillipos lived close to the carjacking.
This was mentioned in the initial reports, but Robel Phillipos and his mother lived very close from the carjacking the Tsarnaev brothers committed, which eventually became their undoing.
“The family’s apartment building is located next to the gas station where the carjacking victim from the night of the shootout in Watertown escaped,” reports NBC Boston. There’s no indication from officials that Robel Phillipos did anything more than lie to federal officials, but that’s a strange coincidence to have the Tsarnaev brothers on the loose that night and were in walking distance to their friend’s house.
Robel Phillipos, 19, was released Monday on $100,000 bond and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet while under house arrest awaiting trial.
Anthony Castro, son of Ariel Castro – one of three men held over the disappearance of three Cleveland girls – reportedly wrote an article in 2004 about one of the victims, Gina DeJesus.
Anthony Castro told WKYC news he had penned the piece for the Plain Press.
He apparently knew nothing about his father’s alleged involvement in the case when he produced the article about Gina DeJesus’ disappearance.
Gina DeJesus was rescued on Monday along with Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight.
The author of the 861-word Plain Press article describes the anxiety felt by the neighborhood in the aftermath of Gina DeJesus’ disappearance.
It outlines the concerns of parents and relatives about sex offenders in the area.
The article also features an interview with Gina DeJesus’ mother, Nancy Ruiz.
The Plain Press is a local community newspaper in Cleveland.
It is believed that Anthony Castro was a college student at the time, and wrote the article as part of a class assignment.
Anthony Castro is reported to have been “stunned” by his father’s alleged involvement in the case, describing it as “beyond comprehension”.
Gina DeJesus was rescued on Monday along with Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight
Gina DeJesus’ disappearance has changed her neighborhood by Ariel Castro
(Plain Press, June 2004) Since April 2, 2004 , the day 14-year-old Gina DeJesus was last seen on her way home from Wilbur Wright Middle School , neighborhood residents have been taken by an overwhelming need for caution. Parents are more strictly enforcing curfews, encouraging their children to walk in groups, or driving them to and from school when they had previously walked alone.
“You can tell the difference,” DeJesus’ mother, Nancy Ruiz said. “People are watching out for each other’s kids. It’s a shame that a tragedy had to happen for me to really know my neighbors. Bless their hearts, they’ve been great.”
On Cleveland ’s west side, it is difficult to go any length of time without seeing Gina’s picture on telephone poles, in windows, or on cars along the busy streets.
“People are really looking out for my daughter,” Ruiz said.
For seven weeks, Gina’s family has been organizing searches, holding prayer vigils, posting fliers and calling press conferences. Despite the many tips and rumors that have been circulating in the neighborhood, there has been no sign of her.
One thing is for certain, however. Almost everyone feels a connection with the family, and Gina’s disappearance has the whole area talking.
“It’s traumatized a lot of people,” Bob Zak, Safety Coordinator of the Westown Community Development Corporation, said. “People are suspicious of everyone. Kids, parents, and grandparents are afraid.”
The organization serves Cleveland ’s Ward 19, which stretches from West Boulevard to West 134th Street .
Parents and relatives waiting for their children as school let out at Wilbur Wright recently expressed concern about the number of sex offenders living and working in the area.
“I really believe there needs to be more security,” Vaneetha Smith said as she waited for her niece outside Wilbur Wright Middle School at the end of the day. “We have too many kidnappings, and they should crack down on all the sex offenders in the area.”
Luis Perez echoed Smith’s concerns as he waited for his niece at the school.
“I think the neighborhood is pretty bad,” he said. “You have to be aware of some people out there.”
The Ohio Electronic Sex Offender Registration and Notification (eSORN) database lists 133 sex offenders living or working in Gina’s immediate zip code. Many residents of the area, however, cannot use the database, as they do not have access to the Internet at home.
“I have been here almost four years and I have been notified of only one sex offender,” Ruiz said. “And he lives only about 1,000 feet away from here.”
Ohio law prohibits sex offenders who are required to register from establishing their residence within 1,000 feet of school buildings.
“There is no enforcing the laws because they still live right next to the schools and the bus stops,” Ruiz said. She believes the process of registering sex offenders is essentially a waste of time.
At a Ward 19 crime watch meeting, one of ten monthly, residents describe the area as a multi-ethnic community where people work and try to keep their housing up to par. They feel the disappearance of Amanda Berry on April 21, 2003 was a wake-up call, but Gina’s case really caught everyone’s attention.
Many residents believe the schools and the city have more work to do to help out.
“There is not enough supervision at the schools and when the kids get out, they still run through the streets,” Smith said. “They say that once they leave the school premises, the school is not responsible for them. But until they reach their house, I believe they are. They should be more concerned with their safety.”
“The school is supposed to be a safe place,” Perez said. “They need more police around the schools, surrounding the area. Without that, it’s just going to keep on going and there will be more innocent people getting hurt.”
Isaac Rodriguez has seen some changes happen at Wilbur Wright.
“There are more security guards at the school now,” the father of two middle school students said. “They have been having assemblies and talking to the kids about the danger.”
“When you send your kids out to school now”, Smith said, “you don’t know if they are going to make it home or not. From West 105th to [West 110th], anything could happen. I feel the mayor should do something about that. The children should be our first priority, no matter what else is going on in the city.”
Zak, a former Cleveland police officer of 30 years, believes the community is feeling the effects of the city’s cuts in the police force.
“The first thing a city should do is protect its citizens,” he said. Although police cannot be on the scene of every crime as they occur, Zak reports that residents are getting responses to calls “one, two, and four hours later.”
Cuts in the police force are not the only budget changes that are directly affecting residents. The Cleveland Municipal School District is also mulling how it will eliminate its projected $100 million budget deficit. Among the items cut will be purchased services, employee overtime, supplemental pay, textbooks, school staff and student transportation.
Charles Ramsey 911 call to Cleveland police has been released.
Since Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight’s dramatic rescue Monday night, Charles Ramsey has become an internet celebrity due to his animated and zany interviews with news outlets.
His expletive-filled 911 call is garnering just as much attention.
Charles Ramsey explains to the dispatcher: “Hey bro I’m at 2207 Seymour Avenue, West 25th. Hey check this out, I just came from McDonalds right? And I’m on my porch eating my little food and this broad is trying to break outa the f***ing house next door to me.
“There was a bunch of people on the street right now and sh** and we are like, <<Whats wrong with you, whats the problem?>>
“And she’s like, <<This mother f***er has kidnapped me and my daughter>>. Said her name is Linda Berry or some shit. I don’t know who the fuck that is, I just moved over here bro.”
The dispatcher asks the man to calm down and slow down and tries to ascertain what is happening and where they are.
Charles Ramsey explains that he is looking at Amanda Berry, who is on the phone with a different dispatcher. He explains that she is white, but her child is Hispanic and that she is wearing a white tank top and blue sweat pants.
Since Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight’s dramatic rescue Monday night, Charles Ramsey has become an internet celebrity due to his animated and zany interviews with news outlets
He is then asked if Amanda Berry needs an ambulance and he can be heard shouting over to her.
“You need an ambulance or what? She needs everything, she in a panic, she’s been kidnapped you know? So put yourself in her shoes.”
ANIMATED 911 CALL FROM CLEVELAND HERO CHARLES RAMSEY
Charles Ramsey: Hey bro I’m at 2207 Seymour Avenue, West 25th. Hey check this out, I just came from McDonalds right? And I’m on my porch eating my little food and this broad is trying to break outa the f***ing house next door to me.
There was a bunch of people on the street right now and sh** and we are like, “Whats wrong with you, whats the problem?”
And she’s like, “This mother f***er has kidnapped me and my daughter”. Said her name is Linda Berry or some shit. I don’t know who the fuck that is, I just moved over here bro.
Dispatcher: Sir you have to clam down and slow down, is she still in the street?
Ramsey: Seymour Avenue.
Dispatcher: Is she still in the street or where did she go?
Ramsey: Yeah I’m looking at her, she right now. She calling you all, she on the other phone.
Dispatcher: Is she black, white or Hispanic?
Ramsey: Err she white, but the baby look Hispanic.
Dispatcher: Okay what is she wearing?
Ramsey: Err white tank top, light blue sweat pants, like a wife-beater.
Dispatcher: Do you know the address next door that she said she was in?
Ramsey: Yes 2207, I’m looking at it.
Dispatcher: Okay I thought that was your address, that house.
Ramsey: No No, I’m smarter than that bro, I’m telling you where the crime was, not my house.
Dispatcher: Sir we can’t talk at the same time, do you want to leave your name and number?
Ramsey: Charles Ramsey, R-A-M-S-E-Y
Dispatcher: Are the people she said that did this do you know if they are still in the house?
Ramsey: I don’t have a f***ing clue, bro, I just got out of McDonald’s.
Dispatcher: Can you ask her if she needs an ambulance.
Ramsey: You need an ambulance, or what? She needs everything, she’s in a panic bro, she’s been kidnapped so you know put yourself in her shoes.
Sheikh Abu-Omar Al-mubarac, founder of the organization that built Colorado’s largest mosque, is offering to bury suspected Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev in a Denver-area Muslim cemetery.
Sheikh Abu-Omar Al-mubarac said he will pay for a traditional Muslim burial – no headstone, monument or casket – at a plot at a Muslim cemetery in Denver or Bennett.
He refused to say which one out of concern for “undue publicity”. He says he’ll bury Tamerlan Tsarnaev as long as his family can get the body to Denver.
Sheikh Abu-Omar Al-mubarac incorporated the Colorado Muslim Society in the late 1960s but made his offer independently of the organization. He says only God can judge Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
However, the Colorado Muslim Society issued a statement on Monday night distancing itself from its founder, Sheikh Abu-Omar Al-mubarac.
“It has recently been reported that the Colorado Muslim Society has offered to provide burial services for Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the individuals who perpetrated the grave and destructive bombings at the 2013 Boston Marathon.
“This report is absolutely untrue. The individual who has reportedly made this offer does not speak on behalf of the Colorado Muslim Society,” the statement says.
It continues: “The Colorado Muslim Society strongly condemns all acts of violence and grieves with all of America after the attacks in Boston.
Sheikh Abu-Omar Al-mubarac is offering to bury Tamerlan Tsarnaev in a Denver-area Muslim cemetery
“The conduct of Tamerlan Tsarnaev is abhorrent and contrary to every principle and belief that underlies the purpose of the Colorado Muslim Society.”
The Colorado Muslim Society’s general counsel Qusair Mohamedbhai told The Denver Post: “We would never, ever do something like that – offer to bury someone who has committed an extreme act of violence against this country.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s uncle Ruslan Tsarni, of Montgomery Village, Maryland, has been unable to bury his nephew in Massachusetts because of protests.
The funeral director who currently has the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev in his possession has made a plea to the State Department to help him settle what will happen with the remains.
The city of Cambridge, where the suspected bombers lived prior to the attack, refused to bury the body.
Peter Stefan, whose business in Worcester, Massachusetts has been picketed by protesters, said that everyone deserves a dignified burial.
The impasse over 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body came as a local man started a fundraising campaign to have the alleged terrorist’s body returned to his family in Russia.
William Breault, from Worcester, has kick-started the campaign with $500 to send the body back to Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s parents.
Peter Stefan said on Monday that he understood the reluctance to deal with the remains following the atrocious attacks last month.
However he told NBC: “Everyone wants him sent back to Russia. I’m gonna get on the phone with the necessary people and say, <<We need help with this>>.”
He added: “It also makes us look bad. In this country, we bury people. We don’t leave them hanging around.”
Peter Stefan said that he believed that alleged terrorist’s family wants his body returned to Russia. Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s mother Zubeidat Tsarnaeva has repeatedly claimed that her son’s were framed for the Boston bombing.
A State Department spokesman said that Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s family should contact the Russian Consulate for help while Massachusetts Governor Patrick Deval called the burial a “family issue”.
Cambridge city manager Robert Healy said on Sunday that Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body was not welcomed in one of its cemeteries.
“I have determined that it is not in the best interest of peace within the city to execute a cemetery deed for a plot within the Cambridge Cemetery for the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev,” Robert Healey said.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s uncle Ruslan Tsarni visited the funeral home over the weekend to claim his nephew’s body.
Ruslan Tsarni chose to step in, he said, because “no one wants to associate their names with such evil events” and because religion and tradition call for his nephew to be buried.
Every cemetery in Massachusetts has turned down the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev but Peter Stefan remains insistent that this death be handled like any other.
He has also reached out unsuccessfully to cemeteries in New Jersey and Connecticut.
Some protesters outside the funeral home believe the bombing suspect should be buried at sea, similar to what was done with the body of Osama bin Laden.
The United States accuses China’s government and military of targeting its government computers as part of a cyber espionage campaign, a US report on China says.
Intrusions were focused on collecting intelligence on US diplomatic, economic and defense sectors which could benefit China’s own defense programme, the report says.
This is the first time the Pentagon’s annual report has directly linked such attacks to the Beijing government.
China called the report “groundless”, saying it represented “US distrust”.
A report from state news agency Xinhua cited Sr. Col Wang Xinjun, a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) researcher, describing the report as “irresponsible and harmful to the mutual trust between the two countries”.
Both China and the US were victims of cybercrimes and should work together to tackle the problems, the agency quoted him as saying.
The Pentagon report also criticizes a “lack of transparency” in China’s military modernization programme and defense spending.
“In 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the US government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military,” the report from the US Department of Defense said.
Pentagon’s annual report has directly linked cyber attacks on US government computers to the Beijing government
The attacks were focused on “exfiltrating information” that “could potentially be used to benefit China’s defense industry, high technology industries… and military planners,” it said.
It added that this was particularly concerning because the “skills required for these intrusions are similar to those necessary to conduct computer network attacks”.
While China has long been suspected of a role in cyber attacks, the US has generally avoided publicly attributing attacks to the Chinese government, or confirming that US government computers have been targeted.
But the issue has come under increased scrutiny in recent months.
In February, US cyber security firm Mandiant said that it had linked hundreds of data breaches since 2004 to a Chinese hacking team traced to the site of a military unit in Shanghai.
China called the Mandiant report flawed, and said it was opposed to cyber-crime.
The report also analyses China’s progress in modernizing its military and says that a “lack of transparency” about its military capabilities has heightened regional tensions.
China announced in March that its annual defense budget was $114 billion, an increase of 10.4%.
However, the Pentagon estimated that China’s total military expenditure in 2012 was higher, between $135 billion and $215 billion.
China launched its first aircraft carrier in 2012, and is also investing in ballistic missiles, counter-space weapons and military cyberspace systems, the report said.
Defense Department official David Helvey said that while none of the individual weapons systems were an issue, the “integration and overlapping nature” of the systems left the department “concerned”.
They could boost China’s ability to restrict access to, and military operations in, the Western Pacific, he said.
David Helvey said the report also found that China had “increased assertiveness with respect to its maritime territorial claims” over the past year.
China has territorial disputes with many of its neighbors, including in both the South China Sea and East China Sea.
Ohio police have praised the bravery of three women – Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight – found alive on Monday evening in a house in Cleveland, after they vanished about a decade ago.
Amanda Berry, who disappeared in 2003 aged 16, escaped with a neighbor’s help while her alleged captor, later identified as Ariel Castro, was away.
Gina DeJesus, who went missing aged 14 a year later, and Michele Knight, who vanished in 2002 aged about 19, were also rescued from the property.
School bus driver Ariel Castro and his two brothers have been arrested.
The three women were taken to hospital for a check-up and to be reunited with their relatives before being discharged on Tuesday morning.
A six-year-old girl also rescued from the house was believed to be the daughter of Amanda Berry, Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba told a news conference.
FBI Special Agent Stephen Anthony said: “The nightmare is over. These three young ladies have provided us with the ultimate definition of survival and perseverance. The healing can now begin.”
“Yes, law enforcement professionals do cry,” he added.
Ed Tomba vowed prosecutors would “bring the full weight of justice” on those responsible in the “horrific case”.
Ariel Castro, 52, and his two brothers, Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50, have been taken into custody.
Amanda Berry disappeared in 2003 aged 16
Police Chief Michael McGrath said the women were believed to have been tied up at the house. Officials said they may also investigate other properties.
Amanda Berry, now 27, escaped on Monday evening when a neighbor heard her screaming and kicking a door, while her alleged captor was out of the house.
Rescuer Charles Ramsey said he had helped kick in a metal door so that Amanda Berry could climb outside and phone police.
In a recording of Monday’s emergency call, Amanda Berry says: “I’ve been kidnapped, and I’ve been missing for 10 years. And I’m here. I’m free now.”
Amanda Berry identifies herself to the 911 dispatcher, saying she has been on the news for the past decade, and begging for help to arrive before her captor returns.
Police Chief Michael McGrath told Tuesday’s news conference: “Thankfully, due to Amanda’s brave actions these three women are alive today.”
Neighbor Anna Tejeda said she had refused to believe the young woman at first.
“You’re not Amanda Berry. Amanda Berry is dead,” she said, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Other neighbors in the working-class district said they did not realize anybody was living at the house at 2207 Seymour Ave.
During the news conference, Public Safety Director Martin Flask said that in March 2000, Ariel Castro had called the authorities to report a fight on his street, but no arrest was made.
In January 2004, police called at Ariel Castro’s home, but no-one answered. They were alerted by children’s services after a child was left at a depot on a school bus that Ariel Castro had been driving. Authorities concluded there had been no criminal intent.
Amanda Berry had last been heard from aged 16 when she called her sister on 21 April 2003 to say she would get a lift home from her job at a Burger King restaurant.
In 2004, Gina DeJesus – who is now 23 years old – was believed to have been on her way home from school when she went missing.
Their disappearances made local headlines in Cleveland, and many assumed the girls were dead.
The case of Michele Knight, who was older than the other women when she disappeared and is now 32, was less widely publicized.
Her grandmother, Deborah Knight, was quoted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper on Monday as saying the authorities concluded she had run away.
The victims’ families have responded with stunned joy. Sylvia Colon, a relative of Gina DeJesus, said they had never given up hope.
But Amanda Berry’s mother, Louwana, died in March 2006, three years after her daughter went missing. A local politician said the mother had died of a “broken heart”.
In an extraordinary twist, it emerged that Ariel Castro’s son – also called Ariel, although he goes by his middle name Anthony – wrote an article about the disappearance of Gina DeJesus for his local newspaper in 2004.
Police have not commented on the case of a fourth missing girl, Ashley Summers, who disappeared in the same area in July 2007 when 14 years old.
This year Met Ball’s theme may have been “punk”, but judging by Kim Kardashian’s powerfully floral outfit, she didn’t get the memo for Monday night’s event.
Kim Kardashian, 32, sported a garish floral gown over her blossoming baby bump, which she bizarrely teamed with matching gloves and heels on the New York red carpet.
She wasn’t exactly shy about flashing the flash as she joined boyfriend Kanye West for one of fashion’s biggest events.
According to People magazine, the custom Givenchy gown by Riccardo Tisci number is made out of floral printed jersey with grommet details that attached the sleeves, turtleneck and gloves.
The dress was rather bizarrely teamed with strappy sandals which gave the ensemble an overly matched look.
Pregnant Kim Kardashian misfired at the Met Ball in slit-to the-thigh Givenchy gown with matching shoes as she couldn’t fit in her first choice dress
Meanwhile, her boyfriend Kanye West- the night’s star performer – also wore Givenchy, but looked much more classy in a simple black suit and white shirt.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are expecting their first baby this summer and it was revealed the reality star decided at the last minute to wear the garish creation, according toLife & Style.
“She had the Givenchy severely altered at the last minute on orders of her new stylist,” a fashion insider told the magazine.
“She’s gained a lot of weight in her arms and her stylist has told her she should not show them off.
“So her dress now has sleeves when it was sleeveless before.”
The source claims that Kanye West was unimpressed that Kim Kardashian decided to mess with the dress.
“Kanye is annoyed, as the dress is by his best friend Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy, and he feels embarrassed that Kim is messing with a beautiful piece of art,” the source said.
Apparently, Kim Kardashian was having a “hard time” trying to fit into her original choice of dress before opting for the Givenchy gown.
“It had to be modified five times for her growing frame,” a friend of Kim Kardashian’s told the magazine last week.
Meanwhile, the reality star posted photographs of herself posing with designers Donatella Versace and Valentino at the event.
It is not known whether Kim Kardashian’s rather outlandish choice was approved by Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour who is reported to have hosted both Kim and Kanye West at her New York home last night.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were photographed going into Anna Wintour’s home on Sunday for an “intimate dinner”.
The reality star’s newfound connection with Anna Wintour comes after she was reportedly banned from even attending the event the year before by the editor.
According to a report in 2012, Kim Kardashian was banned from showing up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala by any mean because of an edict from Anna Wintour.
Apparently the Vogue editor wasn’t a fan of the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star and at the time made sure she didn’t have a way in.
A source told RadarOnline in the 2012 report: “Anna hates Kim. Why would she be invited to the event? It is all the biggest stars in the world and Kim doesn’t fit that bill at all.”
Kim Kardashian’s failure to show up to the 2012 proceedings was even more so unexpected especially as Kanye West was in attendance, looking dashing in a bowtie and suit.
The insider continued: “The Met Gala is $25,000 a ticket, but Kim can’t even buy her way in, Anna Wintour does NOT want her there!
“Anna Wintour would allow Kim Kardashian on the cover of Vogue over her dead body. As long as Anna in charge you will NOT see Kim on Vogue.”
This year Anna Wintour is said to have had a change of heart and allowed Kanye West to bring her as he was performing at the star-studded event.
Anthony Castro – son of Ariel Castro, the prime suspect in the abduction of three Cleveland girls – interviewed missing Gina DeJesus’ mother for a local newspaper, with no idea she was being held captive at his father’s house.
Anthony Castro, 31, said he was absolutely stunned when he heard about what his father has been accused of, after Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Michele Knight and Amanda’s six-year-old daughter were rescued from his home.
After the disappearance of Gina DeJesus in April 2004, Anthony Castro penned a piece for his local paper which included quotes from her mother.
He was a journalism student at Bowling Green State University when he wrote the article, entitled Gina DeJesus’ disappearance has changed her neighborhood, for the Plain Press in June of that year.
Gina DeJesus’ mother Nancy Ruiz told him: “You can tell the difference. People are watching out for each other’s kids. It’s a shame that a tragedy had to happen for me to really know my neighbors.
“Bless their hearts, they’ve been great. People are really looking out for my daughter.”
The aspiring journalist described the atmosphere of the area after the incident.
Anthony Castro interviewed Gina DeJesus’ mother for a local newspaper, with no idea the girl was being held captive by his father
“Since April 2, 2004 , the day 14-year-old Gina DeJesus was last seen on her way home from Wilbur Wright Middle School, neighborhood residents have been taken by an overwhelming need for caution.
“Parents are more strictly enforcing curfews, encouraging their children to walk in groups, or driving them to and from school when they had previously walked alone.
“On Cleveland’s west side, it is difficult to go any length of time without seeing Gina’s picture on telephone poles, in windows, or on cars along the busy streets.
“One thing is for certain, however. Almost everyone feels a connection with the family, and Gina’s disappearance has the whole area talking.”
Anthony Castro also mentioned Amanda Berry in his article, saying: “They feel the disappearance of Amanda Berry on April 21, 2003, was a wake-up call, but Gina’s case really caught everyone’s attention.”
He had no idea the answer to her whereabouts, and that of two other local girls, lay in his father’s house, which he said he was never allowed inside.
Anthony Castro said: “I last saw my dad two weeks ago, it was at the house, but he didn’t let me in.
“He never did. I was never invited inside. The last time was several years ago and even then it was for about 20 minutes.
“If I had known anything about this, there is no way I could have not done something about it. I wrote about it ten years ago and now it is so close to my family. It’s unbelievable.
“I can express nothing but shame for our family. It is just beyond anything that we can speak about. It’s just a nightmare. I feel unspeakably horrible for the victims.”
It also emerged today that Anthony Castro’s sister Emily was jailed for 25 years in 2008 for the attempted murder of her 11-month-old baby.
Emily Castro, 24, tried to slash her daughter Janyla’s throat in April 2007 after she broke up with the child’s father.
Court documents state that police were called to Emily Castro’s home in Fort Wayne, Indiana – where she moved after she became pregnant – when a passerby saw a woman running out to the street with a bleeding baby in her arms.
The woman was Emily Castro’s mother, Grimilda Figeroa, who told police that her daughter stabbed her own child.
When officers went to the home, they found Emily Castro covered in mud, water and blood.
Emily and Anthony’s father Ariel Castro, 52, was arrested on Monday after one of his alleged victims, Amanda Berry, escaped his home and called police.
Neighbors in the street were shocked to hear that Ariel Castro, who was a school bus driver in the Cleveland area until last year, could be capable of abducting three innocent teenagers from the street and tying them up with chains in his basement.
Ariel Castro’s Facebook page depicts a man with a passion for motorcycles and the bass guitar.
