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A family friend of one of the Cleveland victims has revealed that Michelle Knight, the first of three women to be kidnapped off the street who suffered more than a decade of abuse in Ariel Castro’s house of horrors, was subjected to numerous beatings and treated like “a punching bag”.
Michelle Knight, now 32, vanished in August 2002, and was not seen again until earlier this month when she emerged from a dilapidated house on Seymour Avenue with Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus.
The owner of the home, 52-year-old Ariel Castro, faces kidnapping and rape charges. He is accused of chaining up all three women in the home and raping them.
A family friend of one of the victims told CNN that Michelle Knight was often hit with hand weights and other objects and treated like a “punching bag” for 11 years.
Her relatives say that she is deaf in one ear, and may need facial reconstruction surgery. She was released from a hospital on Friday.
Michelle Knight was often hit with hand weights and other objects and treated like a “punching bag” for 11 years
Michelle Knight stayed in the hospital for several days after the other two women left.
She told CNN in a statement: “I am healthy, happy and safe and will reach out to family, friends and supporters in good time.”
Michelle Knight told police that her alleged captor repeatedly raped her and caused her to miscarry at least five times over the years by starving her and punching her in the stomach.
Police sources told the National Enquirer that Ariel Castro had no interest in having children with Michelle Knight, because she was only 4-foot-7 and he believed her to be “mentally disabled”.
The magazine’s source added that Ariel Castro was grooming his 6-year-old daughter with Amanda, Jocelyn, as another sex slave because the other captives “were getting to old for him”.
Police had not been looking for Michelle Knight when she was found in Ariel Castro’s house.
Michelle Knight disappeared in 2002 at age 21. Her mother concluded she might have run away from home because she was angry about the state taking away her child.
Police dropped the case when they couldn’t reach her mother.
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Officer Barbara Johnson has described the moment she rescued Michelle Knight in the Cleveland house of horrors, 11 years after the 32-year-old was abducted.
Barbara Johnson was one of the first Cleveland police officers to rush into Ariel Castro’s house on Seymour Avenue after Amanda Berry managed to escape and call 911.
When she found Michelle Knight, the woman grabbed her tightly and begged her not to leave her, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
“Michelle hugged me first, then clutched me and said, <<Don’t let me go>>,” Barbara Johnson said at an awards ceremony for the officers involved in the miraculous rescue.
“You can’t really describe how I felt…it rips the heart out of my chest.”
Officer Barbara Johnson has described the moment she rescued Michelle Knight in the Cleveland house of horrors
The rescue of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus a decade after they were all feared dead has been called the “Miracle in Cleveland”.
For the officers who arrived at Ariel Castro’s home on May 6, it was also a brush with unimaginable horror.
“When I heard there were people in the house, I ran up to the door, but it was locked from the inside,” Officer Michael Simon recalled.
“So I grabbed the hand rail by the stairs to use as a prying tool…but the other officers kicked the door in.
“Once inside, I felt evil in the house.”
Even the veteran officers who are confronted with human tragedy on a frequent basis could not ignore the emotional impact of rescuing the three girls from a decade of captivity.
“I’ve broke down [crying] a few times on the scene, and in private since then,” Officer Anthony Espada – the first officer on the scene – admitted.
“Those three girls are my heroes… after what went through in that house all those years.”
Ariel Castro, who is accused of imprisoning three women for a decade in his house in Cleveland, will plead not guilty to all charges, his lawyers say.
Ariel Castro, 52, is charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape.
Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus were abducted at different times and held in Ariel Castro’s house in Cleveland. Amanda Berry escaped earlier this month and raised the alarm.
“He’s not a monster and he shouldn’t be demonized,” said lawyer Jaye Schlachet.
Speaking to the AFP news agency, he added that details of Ariel Castro’s innocence “will be disclosed as the case progresses”.
Craig Weintraub, another defense lawyer, told WKYC-TV that his client “loves dearly” Jocelyn, the child he fathered with 27-year-old Amanda Berry – one of the three alleged kidnap victims.
The defense lawyers said they had spent four hours speaking to Ariel Castro in prison.
Prosecutors in Ohio have said they also plan to seek aggravated murder charges that could carry the death penalty.
The charges relate to alleged forced miscarriages suffered by one victim.
Ariel Castro, who is accused of imprisoning three women for a decade in his house in Cleveland, will plead not guilty to all charges
The prosecutors are still preparing their case against Ariel Castro and there has yet to be an arraignment hearing.
Ariel Castro made his first court appearance in Cleveland on May 9 without entering a plea.
County prosecutor Brian Murphy told that hearing: “The charges against Mr. Castro are based on premeditated, deliberate, depraved decisions to snatch three young ladies from Cleveland West Side streets to be used in whatever self-gratifying, self-serving way he saw fit.”
He is charged with four counts of kidnapping, covering the three initial abduction victims and Jocelyn, Amanda Berry’s six-year-old daughter, who was apparently conceived and born in captivity.
The former school bus driver also faces three counts of rape, one against each woman.
Bail was set at $8 million, meaning in effect that he has remained in custody ever since. He is currently on suicide watch and is being kept in isolation.
According to CBS News, Ariel Castro confessed to his crimes in a long, hand-written letter found in the house, which investigators believe may have been intended as a suicide note.
In the 2004-dated letter Ariel Castro said he had been raped as a child by his uncle and was also abused by his parents, a law enforcement source told CBS News.
Ariel Castro reportedly called himself a “sexual predator”, but he also asked to donate all his money to his victims after his death.
His two brothers, Pedro and Onil Castro, also appeared in court on unrelated charges. They had been arrested, but police found no evidence linking them to the crime.
Pedro Castro was fined $100 for public drinking, while two minor counts against Onil Castro were dropped.
Amanda Berry, whose disappearance in 2003 the day before her 17th birthday was widely publicized in the local media, escaped from Ariel Castro’s house by kicking the door and screaming for help while her alleged captor was out. His neighbor, Charles Ramsey, helped her to escape.
Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus were freed soon afterwards. They were all abducted after accepting rides from Ariel Castro, according to a police report leaked to the media.
Ariel Castro had spools of barbed wired tossed about his backyard alongside heavy metal chains and rolls of tarp that he used to hide his neighbor’s view, new photographs reveal.
The collection of discarded items piled up in the garden of the “house of horrors” come in stark contrast to the discarded Barbie bicycle that was likely used by Jocelyn, the daughter Ariel Castro fathered with Amanda Berry.
Police have sealed the scene as they continue to search for clues inside the Seymour Avenue home in west Cleveland, but the photos show that Ariel Castro did much of the blocking off himself.
While police were the ones to replace the back door with a piece of fresh plywood, Ariel Castro had taken out the windows from the back of the house and completely blocked them with gray wood to keep any neighbors from looking into his home.
CNN obtained the photos from a neighbor who chose to remain anonymous.
It appears that the person hopped the fence into the yard because they were able to photograph certain items- like the child’s bike- at a very close distance.
Another chilling clue into Castro’s psyche is the fact that he installed mirrors above his back door.
Ariel Castro had spools of barbed wired tossed about his backyard alongside heavy metal chains and rolls of tarp that he used to hide his neighbor’s view
The angle at which they were left shows that he used them in order to see if anyone was coming up his driveway without his knowledge.
This confirms the story of former friends of Ariel Castro, who said that when they would go over to his home, he would always jump out from the back door as they were walking up, meaning that even if they were going over unannounced he knew they were coming.
The most dramatic items that were spotted in the backyard are the spools of barbed wire and the rusty chains.
Both were likely used to keep the three young women captive inside his home for roughly a decade.
Michelle Knight went missing in 2002, Amanda Berry in 2003 and Gina DeJesus in 2004, and all three were found alive in Ariel Castro’s home early last week.
Portions of their interviews with police have been released, including the disclosure that during the first few years of their captivity, the 52-year-old former bus driver used chains hanging from the basement ceiling to keep them under his control.
One of the pictured chains is lying close to a pulley, which suggests that it was like one used in the basement ceiling so that he would have been able to determine how taut or loose the chain was- and, in turn, how high off the ground the girls were forced to be.
The neighbor who took the photographs said that there were “hundreds” of chains scattered about the back yard.
Several items in the backyard would have looked ordinary to neighbors- as there are two red bicycles leaning against one of the fences that may have belonged to his grandchildren who visited the house and never knew about the captive women.
The same could be deducted for the toy basketball hoop.
That said, the decision to use large sheets of blue, green and gray tarp to hide his backyard from the neighbors’ houses only a stone’s throw away.
Police have boarded up the house – only the portions that he hadn’t blocked off already- as they continue to scour for evidence while preparing for Ariel Castro’s eventual trial.
The photographs came out on the same day as it was revealed that utility workers visited his home roughly 160 times in the ten years that the women were held against their will, but none of them reported any suspicious activity.
The young women were freed after one of them, Amanda Berry, was able to get the attention of a neighbor by breaking part of the front door when Ariel Castro had left “the big inside door” unlocked while going to McDonald’s last Monday.
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Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were imprisoned in Ariel Castro’s Cleveland house in conditions described as similar to a prisoner of war camp and have suffered from severe malnutrition.
They will require long-term therapy for injuries such as hearing loss and joint and muscle damage, two sources with direct knowledge said.
The harrowing details come as Ariel Castro’s attorneys claim he’s not the “monster” depicted in news reports – and he will plead not guilty to kidnapping and rape charges.
Ariel Castro’s lawyer, Craig Weintraub, told WKYC-TV: “The initial portrayal by the media has been one of a <<monster>> and that’s not the impression that I got when I talked to him for three hours.
“I know that family members who have been interviewed by the media have expressed that as well.”
The basement where the women were held had chains coming from the wall, and dog leashes attached to the ceiling, the sources said.
The women were restrained with them and duct tape in “stress positions” for long periods that left them with bed sores and other injuries, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the investigation, who asked not to be identified.
Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were in worse condition than Amanda Berry when they emerged from at least nine years in captivity at the home of Ariel Castro, accused of kidnapping and raping the women.
Ariel Castro appeared to treat Amanda Berry – his “favorite” – better than the other two, the sources said.
“There is a reason why you have only seen a picture of Amanda,” said one of the sources, referring to the condition of Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight.
Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were imprisoned in Ariel Castro’s Cleveland house in conditions described as similar to a prisoner of war camp and have suffered from severe malnutrition
Michelle Knight told investigators she fell pregnant five times, but lost the baby each time. She said that Ariel Castro starved and repeatedly punched her in the stomach to force her to miscarry.
Police sources told the National Enquirer that Ariel Castro had no interest in having children with Michelle Knight, because she was only 4-foot-7 and believed her to be “mentally disabled”.
The magazine’s source added that Ariel Castro was grooming his 6-year-old daughter with Amanda Berry, Jocelyn, as another sex slave because the other captives “were getting to old for him”.
Amanda Berry, who broke down a door to freedom a week ago with the help of a neighbor, and then told police of the other women, was photographed smiling immediately after the dramatic rescue.
In contrast, Gina DeJesus wore a hooded sweat-shirt covering her head when she first went home last week, and Michelle Knight was hospitalized for days, and has stayed out of public view.
The sources said Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were gaunt and had closely cropped hair when they were freed.
One of the sources, who has been in the house, said the basement had chains coming from the walls and “dog leashes attached to the ceiling”, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus told police they spent extensive time in the basement.
A second source corroborated the details.
“One of the girls has difficulty moving her head around from being chained up,” said one of the sources. The second source identified Gina DeJesus as the woman suffering this injury.
“It was like they were POWs [prisoners of war]. They had bed sores from being left in positions for extended lengths of time,” a source said.
All the bedroom doors in the house had padlocks on the outside and the rooms were spare with only a mattress on the floor. Their movement through the house was very restricted, the women have told authorities.
“If he left for long periods of time he would sometimes duct tape-up the women over all parts of their faces, even their eyes, only leaving an opening so they could breathe. Then he would just rip it off pulling off skin and hair,” one of the sources said.
A police report said Michelle Knight was starved for weeks at a time and punched in the stomach to induce several miscarriages. A county prosecutor intends to file fetal homicide charges against Ariel Castro in connection with the miscarriages.
The women, especially Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, were now exhibiting signs of malnutrition as Ariel Castro used food as a means to torment them, one of the sources said.
“He would bring food to one or two of the girls and made the others watch as they or he would eat in front of them,” the source said.
Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus would sneak food to each other, this source said.
Ariel Castro generally kept one woman upstairs and the other two – usually Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus – in the basement, the source said.
Despite their ordeal, a Cleveland city council member stressed that the women are reveling in their freedom.
“They are doing well, doing very well. They are thriving and enjoying their freedom,” City Councilman Brian Cummins said on Monday.
The sources asked to be anonymous because they were not authorized to speak on the record. They were discussing some of the details of the captivity because they felt tight information control had left the impression that authorities ignored calls and reports about Ariel Castro’s house that could have freed the women sooner.
Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath on Monday issued a statement defending the police department’s policy of restricting information on the crimes.
“The disclosure of sensitive information and details of these horrendous crimes only further victimize three young women. The criticism of law enforcement efforts is disheartening. The dissemination of misinformation erodes the critical relationship between law enforcement and community,” Michael McGrath said.
Little is known about the relationship among the three women. Michelle Knight, who is now 32, Amanda Berry, 27 and Gina DeJesus, 23, have not spoken publicly.
Ariel Castro’s brothers, Onil and Pedro, spoke of how they had no idea why they were being arrested for keeping three girls in captivity in Cleveland for nearly a decade.
Onil and Pedro Castro also revealed that they saw Jocelyn, the daughter that Ariel fathered with Amanda Berry during her captivity, saying that on two different occasions they saw Ariel bring the young girl to fast food restaurants- one time at McDonald’s and another at Burger King. Each time, he said that the girl was his girlfriend’s daughter.
Onil Castro was in the car with his brother Ariel when police pulled them over in a McDonalds parking lot and his first thought was that Ariel had run a red light. Pedro Castro was woken up at his home by police, and he thought that they were arresting him for an outstanding open container warrant.
They were both far off base, as they only learned when they arrived at the police station and were questioned separately about the three young women that Ariel Castro had secretly kept in his house.
Pedro Castro said that once at the station, he asked what he was being charged with and a police officer wrote the word “kidnapping” down on a piece of paper and handed it to him.
“I didn’t have my reading glasses, I looked and I said, <<Oh, open containers>>. She said <<No, read it again>>. And I said <<Oh! Kidnapping! What’s this? Kidnapping? I’m thinking kidnapping. Who did I kidnap?>>” he told CNN.
Pedro Castro was similarly confused, and the only one to have a clue of what was going on was Ariel, who remains behind bars after his bail was set at $8 million.
“He goes <<Onil, I’m sorry. You didn’t know nothing about this, Onil. I’m sorry, Onil>>. And that was it. And then that’s when I broke down on my way over there. I said, <<What did my brother do? What did he do?>>” Onil Castro told CNN.
“When he walked past me, he goes, <<Onil, you’re never going to see me again. I love you bro>>. And that was it. And he put his fist up for a bump.”
They consider their brother to be a “monster” and said that one of the worst moments for them came when they realized that Gina DeJesus was one of the kidnapping victims since they are friends with her father, Felix.
Ariel Castro’s brothers, Onil and Pedro, spoke of how they had no idea why they were being arrested for keeping three girls in captivity in Cleveland for nearly a decade
“I knew him for a long time and when I found out that Ariel had Gina, I just broke down its just shocking. Ariel, we know this guy for a long time and you got his daughter and you go round like nothing, you even went to the vigils, you had posters, you give his mama a hug and you got his daughters captive?” Pedro Castro said in disbelief in the interview that aired Monday morning.
Pedro Castro told of how one time he saw Ariel bring a little girl to the local McDonalds – the girl that is now known to be Jocelyn who the 52-year-old fathered with his kidnapping victim Amanda Berry.
“I seen Ariel with a little girl at McDonald’s and I asked him who’s that and he said <<This is a girlfriend’s of mine>>,” Pedro Castro told CNN.
When he saw the same girl at Burger King with Ariel on a different occasion, he asked where the mother was but Ariel just said she was busy.
The brothers said that they had no idea about the years of abuse that went on at their brother’s house because they never had a thorough tour of his home on Seymour Avenue.
On the rare occasions that they did visit his home, they stayed in the kitchen and could not see into the other areas because Ariel Castro had put up curtains blocking the other rooms. He explained that it was an energy saving technique.
“The reason why we would go in the kitchen, because he had alcohol. And he would take me in the kitchen, give me a shot,” Pedro Castro said.
Other ways that he would keep his guests from suspecting any criminal activity was to constantly have a radio or TV on so that it would drown out any background noise, and they would never spend much time actually indoors, opting to eat out on the steps instead.
The brothers, who were arrested along with Ariel Castro but later released due to a lack of evidence, say that since their release from prison, they have been faced with online death threats, a break-in at one of their homes, and vandalism.
When asked by CNN reporter Martin Savidge if the public would always suspect they had a role in the kidnappings, they answered “yes” in unison.
Onil Castro said: “The people out there who know me, they know that Onil Castro is not that person, has nothing to do with that – would never even think of something like that. I was a very liked person [before the arrest], never had any enemies.
“[There is] no reason for anybody to think that I would ever do something like that. It was a shock to all my friends. They couldn’t believe it.”
Pedro Castro added: “I couldn’t ever think of doing anything like that. If I knew that my brother was doing this, in a minute I would have called the cops; cause that ain’t right. But yeah, it’s going to haunt me down. Cause people are going to think Pedro had something to do with this and Pedro don’t have anything to do this.”
They said that even though Ariel Castro is their brother, they would have had no choice but to turn him in – had they known.
“If I knew, I would have reported it, brother or no brother.”
Ariel Castro is suspected of holding Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight captive in his home for a decade.
Authorities say he kidnapped all three women, raped them and fathered a child with one.
The women were found May 6 after one escaped and called 911.
The Castro brothers were initially taken into custody but released Thursday after investigators said there was no evidence against them.
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Amanda Berry may start a new life near her extended family in Tennessee after escaping the abductor who held her captive in Cleveland for ten years.
Amanda Berry, now 27, vanished in Cleveland, Ohio, on the day before her 17th birthday on April 21, 2003, shortly after calling her sister to say she was getting a lift home from her job at Burger King.
She incredible emerged alive earlier this month when she managed to escape from the basement of a house in Cleveland where she had been sexually abused by her captor Ariel Castro and gave birth to her 6-year-old daughter Jocelyn.
The other two women, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michele Knight, 32, who disappeared from the same block as Amanda Berry in 2004 and 2002 were also rescued from the property.
Amanda Berry’s relatives now hope she will move to Tennessee so she can be closer to her father and extended family.
Her uncle, Curtis Berry, 50, from Elizabethton, Tennessee, told nydailynews.com: “She has more kin here than anywhere else. This is her home.”
Amanda Berry may start a new life near her extended family in Tennessee after escaping the abductor who held her captive in Cleveland for ten years
Amanda Berry has also been to visit the grave of her mother Louwana Miller, who never gave up hope her daughter was alive, for the first time since she passed away.
Her alleged abductor Ariel Castro, 52, is currently being held in prison awaiting trial.
A brief video filmed by Jasmina Baldrich shows the very first image of Amanda Berry after she broke out of the house of horrors after being held captive for a decade.
Amanda Berry can be seen clutching her six-year-old daughter Jocelyn in her arms and holding Charles Ramsey’s hand for comfort. Charles Ramsey was later hailed has a hero for responding to Berry’s cries for help and phoning 911.
Cops can be seen prying open the front door of Ariel Castro’s house. Once open, they flood into the home, some reaching for their handguns.
Jasmina Baldrich and her friend Ashley Colon were driving down Seymour Avenue on Monday evening when they were suddenly surrounded by police cruisers.
The revelation that Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were alive and had been kept as sex slaves for a decade shocked and horrified the nation, but it was seen as a miracle in Cleveland.
The three women have hired attorneys and a PR firm to represent them as the entire world waits for them to make their first public appearances.
Their lawyer addressed the media on Sunday morning with a brief public statement saying the girls were thankful for the support from the community.
However, they asked for privacy and said they would not give any public interviews until after Ariel Castro’s trial.
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Mark Sanchez, who lives in the neighborhood and shares Ariel Castro’s affinity for the bass guitar, told The Daily Telegraph that he was at the kidnapper’s home on May 2 when he heard weird thudding sounds coming from the floor above.
Mark Sanchez also saw a little girl at one point whom he claimed he had never seen before.
Ariel Castro explained that the child was his granddaughter.
Days later, he was horrified to learn about what had been going on in the house for more than a decade.
Mark Sanchez said he was at Ariel Castro’s home on May 2 when he heard weird thudding sounds coming from the floor above
Mark Sanchez told the paper that he would always have to arrange plans to hang out with Ariel Castro in advance – because he never answered the door if he showed up without letting Castro know first.
He told the Telegraph: “I have to say the guy was a demon but he played it real cool. It was the first time that I heard any noise.”
Ariel Castro, 52, is suspected of holding amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight captive in his home for a decade.
Authorities say he kidnapped all three women, raped them and fathered a child with one.
The women were found May 6 after one escaped and called 911.
Onil and Pedro Castro, the brothers of Cleveland kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro, have spoken out for the first time, saying that they would have turned him in if they knew three women were being held prisoner in his home.
Onil and Pedro Castro, who were arrested along with Ariel, say that since their release from prison, they have been faced with online death threats, a break-in at one of their homes, and vandalism.
They were released several days after their arrest due to lack of evidence linking them to the crimes.
When asked by CNN reporter Martin Savidge if the public would always suspect they had a role in the kidnappings, they answered “yes” in unison.
Onil and Pedro Castro speak out for first time and insist they knew nothing about female prisoners in brother Ariel’s home
Onil Castro said: “The people out there who know me, they know that Onil Castro is not that person, has nothing to do with that – would never even think of something like that. I was a very liked person [before the arrest], never had any enemies.
“[There is] no reason for anybody to think that I would ever do something like that. It was a shock to all my friends. They couldn’t believe it.”
Pedro Castro added: “I couldn’t ever think of doing anything like that. If I knew that my brother was doing this, in a minute I would have called the cops; cause that isn’t right. But yeah, it’s going to haunt me down. Cause people are going to think Pedro had something to do with this and Pedro doesn’t have anything to do this.”
They said that even though Ariel Castro is their brother, they would have had no choice but to turn him in – had they known.
“If I knew, I would have reported it, brother or no brother.”
Onil and Pedro Castro spoke amid new revelations of odd behavior at Ariel Castro house in the days prior to the women’s escape.
The brothers were initially taken into custody but released Thursday after investigators said there was no evidence against them.
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Jasmina Baldrich and Ashley Colon, who were driving around their Cleveland neighborhood, became witnesses to a historic rescue when they shot a video of police raiding the home of kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro.
Jasmina Baldrich and Ashley Colon thought they were about to be pulled over last Monday when they noticed a police cruiser behind them, and turned onto Seymour Avenue.
There, they saw a heavy police presence, with officers approaching Ariel Castro’s house. The spectacle prompted Jasmina Baldrich to take out her iPhone and start videotaping what was going on.
In the video, cops can be seen prying open the front door of Ariel Castro’s house. Once open, they flood into the home, some reaching for their handguns.
Jasmina Baldrich and Ashley Colon became witnesses to a historic rescue when they shot a video of police raiding Ariel Castro’s home
The women also said that they saw a woman pass who claimed that she was Amanda Berry, and they couldn’t believe their ears.
Jasmina Baldrich told NewsChannel5.com: “We just seen cops and then out of nowhere all we see Amanda walking by saying, <<I’m Amanda Berry>>.”
Like others in the community, Jasmina Baldrich was familiar with the Amanda Berry case, and were shocked to find the missing woman, clutching her six-year-old daughter.
Jasmina Baldrich told NewsChannel5: “We knew like that [snapping fingers]. We both got goose bumps at the same time. We were shocked, we could not believe it but it clicked.”
Ashley Colon added: “People would die just to see these girls get saved and we just happened to be there.”
Ariel Castro, 52, is being held on $8 million bond.
The ex-school bus driver was charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape.
Michelle Knight, Amanda berry and Gina DeJesus, now in their 20s and 30s, vanished separately between 2002 and 2004. At the time, they were 14, 16 and 20 years old.
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Longest-held Cleveland kidnap victim Michelle Knight suffered such severe beatings while locked inside the house of horrors that she will require facial reconstruction surgery, her family said.
Michelle Knight, 32, was released from hospital on Friday, five days after she and two other victims Amanda Berry, 27, and Gina DeJesus, 23, along with Amanda’s six-year-old daughter were rescued following a decade held captive in the dungeon-like home.
“When she was severely beaten, he beat her so badly in the face that she has to have facial reconstruction and she’s lost hearing in one ear,” Michelle’s grandmother, Deborah Knight, told CBS.
Michelle Knight suffered such severe beatings while locked inside the house of horrors that she will require facial reconstruction surgery
Michelle Knight told police that her alleged captor, Ariel Castro, repeatedly raped her and caused her to miscarry at least five times over the years by starving her and punching her in the stomach.
The news of her condition comes after it was revealed that Gina DeJesus’ family is planning to “adopt” Michelle Knight and look after her as their daughter because of Knight’s fractious relationship with her own family.
According to a friend of Felix and Nancy DeJesus, Michelle Knight initially rejected a meeting with her own mother, Barbara Knight, though it is unclear whether they have since met in the days since she was released from hospital.
Lupe Collins, a neighbor who helped the DeJesus family look for Gina since she disappeared in 2004, said Nancy DeJesus told her in a phone call on Thursday that she and her husband are trying to convince Michelle Knight, now 32, to stay with them.
“She was Georgina’s sister for ten years in that house and she’s still her sister now,” Lupe Collins said.
“They’re going to take her in as their own family member and help her.
“Michelle doesn’t want to go back to her own family because they abused her before she was kidnapped and they only want the money now.”
Michelle Knight was taken to DeJesus’s house after she was released from hospital.
Elida-Marie Caraballo, the niece of sadistic Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro, has revealed how she innocently played in his “house of horrors” while his three torture victims were chained up in the cellar beneath her.
Elida-Marie Caraballo, 19, said she would visit “Uncle Ariel” with her cousin Arlene – Ariel Castro’s daughter – but he would demand they wait outside the back door until he “fixed things” inside.
“He would play the radio real loud and told me never to leave the kitchen,” she said.
“I thought he was weird but I had no idea he was a monster. It gives me chills to think I was playing with my toys on the kitchen floor while those poor girls were locked in the basement.
“My uncle and aunt were separated so I would go round with Arlene to visit her daddy.”
Elida-Marie Caraballo, 19, said she would visit “Uncle Ariel” with her cousin Arlene
Elida-Marie Caraballo’s mother, Elida, 44, is the sister of Ariel Castro’s common-law-wife Grimilda Figueroa who died last year of a brain tumor the family say was brought on by vicious beatings by Castro.
The couple bought the house where the three women were held captive, built in 1950, in 1992 and raised their four young children there until they split in 1996.
Elida-Marie Caraballo says her uncle’s behavior “became weirder” after he split from her aunt and that he may have abducted his victims to replace the family he lost.
“He was a bully and used to beat my aunt badly but when she finally got the courage to leave and come live with us he cried and begged her to come home.”
Recalling her visits there, Elida-Marie said: “I had no idea those poor girls were chained up in the basement.
“Now I wonder what would have happened if I’d heard something. Would he have locked me in the basement too? I was only a kid but the house gave me the creeps.”
Amanda Berry and her fellow captives Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight are enjoying their first weekend of freedom after escaping the clutches of brutal Ariel Castro.
Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, are set to become overnight millionaires by telling their harrowing stories from the Cleveland horror house.
Oprah Winfrey is said to have offered Amanda Berry $300,000 to do her first interview.
A source close to Gina DeJesus claimed she was so traumatized that she was unable to sleep in a bedroom.
“She was locked in a room for so long that she is now sleeping on an inflatable mattress in the living room,” the source said.
“She can’t stand the idea of being in a small room. She walks around the garden. She is beautifying herself, doing her nails and hair and experimenting with make-up. She’s been catching up on everything, reading women’s magazines, trying to figure out what she has missed and who the Kardashians are.”
Amanda Berry and her fellow captives Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight are enjoying their first weekend of freedom after escaping the clutches of brutal Ariel Castro
Michelle Knight, 32, has been dubbed “the forgotten victim” because her disappearance was never taken seriously by police. She vanished in 2002 aged 20 after her young son was taken into care.
The source revealed that she refused to see family members, including her mother, after her release, preferring to stay at the DeJesus family home.
When Amanda Berry had her daughter Jocelyn, which DNA tests have confirmed was fathered by Ariel Castro, she was given “favored” status by her captor, the source added.
“Castro referred to Amanda as his girlfriend and showered affection on Jocelyn. When they were rescued, Jocelyn was crying for her daddy. She is confused and doesn’t understand what is going on.”
Ariel Castro’s daughter Angie said that he showed her a photograph of a child she now believes was Jocelyn in February. Amanda Berry’s mother Louwana died aged 48 while her daughter was imprisoned. She went to her grave believing she had spoken to her daughter’s kidnapper.
After Amanda Berry had been missing for three days, the story was covered on a news bulletin, after which she received a phone call from a man who told her Amanda was with him.
In a TV interview Louwana Berry gave after the call in 2002, she said: “So I’m begging him to let me speak with her, just to let me know if she’s there. And he hesitated and said, <<I’ll have her home in a few days>>. I kept begging for him to let me speak with her. And he hung up.”
Cleveland police refused to say whether Ariel Castro had confessed to making the call, saying: “We don’t comment on an ongoing investigation.”
Amanda Berry’s grandfather, Troy Berry, revealed the emotional phone call he received from his granddaughter after ten years of captivity in Cleveland horror house.
Just hours after escaping from the clutches of crazed kidnapper Ariel Castro, Troy Berry’s granddaughter Amanda – whom he had last seen as a 16-year-old – called to say: “Hi grandpa, it’s Mandy.”
But then the call from Amanda Berry, who is now 27 years old and the mother of a six-year-old daughter born in captivity, took an unexpected twist.
Troy Berry, 73, who is set to be reunited with Amanda soon, revealed how her first words were about a classic car he had promised her just days before she went missing.
He said: “A few days before she went, I told her I had this 1986 Chevrolet, a special Nascar limited edition, which I would teach her to drive in. And I told her if she did good, I’d give it to her.
“The first thing she asked me was, <<Grandpa, do you still have my car?>> I joked and said, <<No, I’ve given it away>>. But then I heard silence and I told her I was kidding and she burst into tears of happiness.
Amanda Berry’s grandfather Troy Berry with the Chevrolet 1986 Monte Carlo, SS Nascar limited edition, that he promised her ten years ago
“I used to look at that car and think of her. I hope she was thinking of it too, and of us, while she was in there and I hope that helped her to get through it. I used to take Mandy to motor shows when she was a little girl.
“She used to love it all and ask, <<Grandpa, what’s this one? How old is that one? How fast does it go?>>.
“When she went missing, I could never bring myself to get rid of the Chevy. Every time I looked at it, I imagined her smiling, sitting behind the wheel and I’d pray to God that she’d come back to us. Now I’m going to fix it up. I kept the fancy hubcaps in the house so they wouldn’t get stolen.
“I’m as pleased as punch I’ll finally be able to teach her to drive in it. We’ll get a booster seat for the little one and make it a regular palace on wheels.”
Amanda Berry and her fellow captives Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, are enjoying their first weekend of freedom after escaping the clutches of brutal Ariel Castro.
Troy Berry said: “Mandy is as happy as a freed bird. She told me it feels good to be sleeping properly.
“She says every moment feels like a gift. Every piece of chicken, every glass of water, every little thing. The FBI took Mandy to the doctors. She had no daylight and he starved them, only giving them the cheapest things he could find. But she’s feeling great and doing well.”
Troy Berry said Amanda had formed a “life bond” with fellow victims Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight.
“Mandy said she was sometimes in the same room as the other two girls,” he said.
“She said they kept each other going, tried to help each other, protect each other from him. She said she’ll stay friends with them forever after what they’ve been through. They’re the only ones who know how bad it all was.”
Grimilda Figueroa, the mother of Ariel Castro’s children, repeatedly went to authorities with accusations he was beating, abusing and threatening her.
However, her complaints never reached the point where Ariel Castro was imprisoned or triggered additional police investigations.
The late Grimilda Figueroa’s accusations against Ariel Castro began in 1989 and the last came in 2005, three years after he allegedly kidnapped Michelle Knight, the first of three women who had been held in his Cleveland house.
In the first case, Ariel Castro was not sentenced to prison and in the other two Grimilda Figueroa chose to drop proceedings.
Domestic abuse experts said victims in such cases often change their mind because they are afraid, or they lack knowledge of the legal system.
Ariel Castro now has been charged with three counts of raping Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight and four counts of kidnapping the three women and his daughter born to Berry while in captivity.
An Ohio prosecutor said on Thursday he intends to charge Ariel Castro with murder in connection with the starvation and abuse of Michelle Knight during pregnancies that led to miscarriages.
Grimilda Figueroa died in April 2012, at the age of 48, from an accidental overdose of painkiller oxycodone, according to an Indiana coroner.
Her last complaint against Ariel Castro, a 2005 request to the court for an “order of protection” could have been a missed opportunity to expose him, domestic abuse experts said.
If Ariel Castro had violated the order he could have been investigated by police and possibly arrested. That could have been an opportunity to find the women he allegedly held captive, or it could have made things worse if they had been abandoned without him and unable to leave the house.
Grimilda Figueroa also filed a police report in 2005 saying Ariel Castro had threatened to “beat your ass” in front of their daughter, according to the report.
A spokeswoman for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said that police told Grimilda Figueroa that year to go to the county prosecutor’s office and file a criminal complaint but she did not.
Instead, Grimilda Figueroa sought a civil order of protection in county court. In Ohio, a victim can get a civil order without criminal charges because they believe this will be less upsetting to the offender, said Anne Murray, director of the domestic violence and stalking unit for the city of Columbus, which is 140 miles from Cleveland.
Grimilda Figueroa eventually dropped even that request for a protection order and so the court case was dismissed.
Grimilda Figueroa, the mother of Ariel Castro’s children, repeatedly went to authorities with accusations he was beating, abusing and threatening her
“That breaks my heart,” Anne Murray said.
Grimilda Figueroa had four children with Ariel Castro – Ariel “Anthony”, Arlene, Angie and Emily – and her efforts to protect herself from him spanned at least 16 years.
The first incident was in 1989. Ariel Castro pleaded no contest and was given a year of probation after Grimilda Figueroa made a domestic violence complaint against him, according to a Cuyahoga County court document.
On December 26, 1993, Ariel Castro was arrested after he arrived home drunk and began beating Grimilda Figueroa, police said.
“I was afraid that he would come home in this condition so I had already called police,” a police report at the time quoted Grimilda Figueroa as telling them.
The woman told police that he had thrown her to the ground, hit her about the face and head and kicked her, according to a Cleveland police report.
Their 12-year-old son, Anthony, ran out of the house to get help for Grimilda Figueroa and was pursued by Ariel Castro, the report said.
When a grand jury considered the incident, Grimilda Figueroa said she could not remember the abuse, according to court documents. The case was dropped.
“She was afraid,” said Chris Giannini, a former police officer and owner of International Investigations, a private investigations company, who tried to help protect Grimilda Figueroa from Ariel Castro.
Domestic violence experts say abuse victims often raise charges and then back down from pursuing them out of fear or other difficulties with the legal system.
“If they don’t have the support and the knowledge to go through with what they need to do, a lot of victims stop,” said Linda D. Johanek, chief executive officer of Cleveland’s Domestic Violence & Child Advocacy Center.
According to Cuyahoga County court documents, Grimilda Figueroa had been granted full custody of her and Ariel Castro’s children by 1997. By then, she was in a new relationship with a man named Fernando Colon, who was a guard at a hospital where she went for her injures from Ariel Castro’s beatings, according to Colon.
On August 29, 2005, Grimilda Figueroa went to court again, seeking an order of protection against Ariel Castro. She also said he had threatened to kill her and her children during the previous year and had “abducted” the children.
A year before that complaint, two of the daughters, Emily and Arlene, accused her new partner, Fernando Colon, of sexual abuse, Chris Giannini said. He investigated the case on behalf of Fernando Colon, and believes that Ariel Castro manipulated his daughters into accusing Colon. Grimilda Figueroa and Fernando Colon denied the abuse.
Fernando Colon was convicted in September 2005 on five charges of child molestation based on the testimony of the daughters, and was sentenced to three years of community supervision, according to court documents.
Arlene Castro declined to be interviewed by Reuters. Emily Castro is in prison serving a 25-year sentence after being convicted of attempting to murder her baby daughter in 2007 by slashing her throat.
Also in September 2005, authorities tried to serve Ariel Castro with a summons to attend a hearing on Grimilda Figueroa’s complaint.
“They went to his house three times and no one answered,” said Diane Palos, administrative judge for the domestic relations court in Cleveland. Ariel Castro came to the court to get the summons, she said.
The hearing on Grimilda Figueroa’s petition was held in November 2005. Court records show Ariel Castro and Grimilda Figueroa both attended the hearing as did Castro’s lawyer.
Grimilda Figueroa’s lawyer, Robert Ferreri, did not show up, citing a conflict with another case in juvenile court, records show.
Robert Ferreri, a former Cuyahoga County judge, resigned from the practice of law in 2011 as he was facing discipline, according to the Ohio Supreme Court. His law license had been suspended twice before in 1999 and 2000.
Repeated attempts by Reuters reporters to reach Robert Ferreri by phone or at residences listed for him were unsuccessful.
Grimilda Figueroa decided not to proceed with the request for a protection order, according to court documents. Her lawyer advised her that she would be at a severe disadvantage if she went ahead without him, documents show. The case was dismissed and she did not exercise her legal right to revive it.
“She feared this man [Ariel Castro],” said Fernando Colon, who now is unemployed and on disability.
“This man had her psychologically under control. Every movement she made, he was aware of. He threatened to kill her and the kids.”
Since 2005, victims’ advocates have been added to the justice system in Ohio to guide women through the hearing without a lawyer, said Alexandria Ruden, senior attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.
Another innovation is that in the past 15 to 20 years the justice system has become more sensitive to the pressures on battered women, said Mat Heck, prosecuting attorney for Montgomery County, Ohio, and chairman-elect of the American Bar Association’s criminal justice section.
Authorities are now more willing to prosecute domestic violence cases even when the victim does not want to, he said.
If Grimilda Figueroa had gotten the protection order, it would have been effective for five years. Any violation by Ariel Castro could have been prosecuted as a crime.
“It’s possible that had she gotten that order, there could have been follow-up prosecution, absolutely,” Alexandria Ruden said.
Grimilda Figueroa decided in late 2005 to move her children to Indiana, according to Chris Giannini and Fernando Colon. After she died last year, her son Anthony Castro, who now lives in Columbus, Ohio, posted on the funeral home online guest book: “Dear Mom. You are gone too soon. But your suffering is over.”
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Ariel Castro told police under interrogation that he was an addict who could not control his impulses.
The news came after prosecutors revealed they will likely seek the death penalty for the Cleveland kidnap suspect if extra charges are filed in relation to the termination of his victim’s pregnancies.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty said yesterday that based on the facts of the case, his office intends to seek charges not only for the assaults endured by the victims, but also “each act of aggravated murder he committed by terminating pregnancies”.
Timothy J. McGinty said he would seek charges for each act of violence, rape, kidnapping, assault and “each act of aggravated murder he committed by terminating pregnancies that the offender perpetuated against the hostages during this decade-long ordeal”.
Ariel Castro, 52, hung his head in shame as he made his first court appearance
Ariel Castro, 52, hung his head in shame as he made his first court appearance yesterday morning, the first time he has been seen in public since he was arrested on Monday.
His brothers appeared alongside him but were later released from custody.
Ariel Castro stared at the floor throughout the short hearing at Cleveland Municipal court. He didn’t once glance up to face the packed courtroom from the moment he entered.
Flanked by five guards and wearing a blue prison jump suit, he shuffled into the courtroom alongside his brothers.
Ariel Castro, who is alleged to have kept Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus captive for over a decade, refused to look up at judge Lauren Moore and face the bank of TV cameras inside courtroom three.
He did not speak or acknowledge the judge when she set bond at $8 million.
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Michelle Knight will be “adopted” by Gina DeJesus’ family and they will look after her as their daughter after Michelle rejected a meeting with her own mother, a friend of Felix and Nancy DeJesus has revealed.
Lupe Collins, a neighbor who helped the DeJesus family look for Gina since she disappeared in 2004, said Nancy DeJesus told her in a phone call on Thursday that she and her husband are trying to convince Michelle Knight, now 32, to stay with them.
“She was Georgina’s sister for ten years in that house and she’s still her sister now,” Lupe Collins said.
“They’re going to take her in as their own family member and help her.
“Michelle doesn’t want to go back to her own family because they abused her before she was kidnapped and they only want the money now.”
Michelle Knight will be “adopted” by Gina DeJesus’ family and they will look after her as their daughter
Michelle Knight was released from the hospital on Friday and was taken to Gina DeJesus’ house.
Lupe Collins said the DeJesus family will be able to offer Michelle Knight the loving household that she never had even before she was allegedly kidnapped by Ariel Castro.
“They’re a loving family, a giving family. Felix and Nancy will take care of her and make sure she gets the helps she needs,” Lupe Collins said.
Two days ago, Gina DeJesus triumphantly returned to the neighborhood and walked into her home and hundreds of neighbors and well-wishers cheered.
By contrast, Michelle Knight’s homecoming had no fanfare.
Her great aunt Deborah Knight and her brother Freddie said that they had no idea where Knight could stay when she was released from the hospital.
“I don’t know where she’ll go,” Deborah Knight said from her dilapidated house on Cleveland’s West Side.
However, Freddie Knight, Michelle’s twin brother, said he saw his sister in the hospital and she wants her family to be reunited.
“I want her out of there and I want her home,” Freddie Knight, 32, said.
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Michelle Knight has finally been released from hospital and is staying at the home of fellow captive Gina DeJesus after she refused to see her mother.
Michelle Knight, 32, became the third and final victim to leave the hospital where she was being treated for the physical and mental abuse she endured over ten years allegedly at the hands of Ariel Castro in Cleveland, who is accused of routinely beating and raping his three victims.
The hospital said Michelle Knight is in good spirits and grateful for the fund created to aid the victims.
Michelle Knight has refused to see her mother Barbara, choosing instead to stay with her fellow captive Gina DeJesus.
A family friend who talked to Nancy DeJesus said the DeJesus family is taking Michelle Knight in because she says Gina is her only family left in Cleveland.
The hospital statement said: “Michelle Knight is in good spirits and would like the community to know that she is extremely grateful for the outpouring of flowers and gifts.
“She is especially thankful for the Cleveland Courage Fund. She asks that everyone please continue to respect her privacy at this time.”
Michelle Knight’s mother is believed to have hired a lawyer in order to try and get access to her daughter.
Attorney Jay Milano told WKYC: “Barbara just wants to be a part of the healing process.”
Michelle Knight has finally been released from hospital and is staying at the home of fellow captive Gina DeJesus after she refused to see her mother
Barbara Knight flew in from Florida on Tuesday night after learning about her daughter’s rescue on the news and claimed she never gave up hope Michelle was still alive.
She said she wanted to bring her back to Naples with her once she was released from hospital.
Michelle Knight was the first of the three victims to be abducted. She was last seen at a cousin’s house near West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue in Cleveland in 2002.
But her disappearance did not receive much publicity as she was classed as a runaway and her name was taken off the missing person’s database just 15 months later.
Michelle Knight’s twin brother yesterday recalled his shock at seeing her alive for the first time in more than a decade.
“When I saw her, she was white as a ghost,” Freddie Knight, 32, told The New York Post.
“But she told me, <<Come over here and give me a hug. It’s been ages!>>.
“She was happy to see me. It was emotional. She even recognized me – even though it had been 11 years.”
Freddie Knight also said he was afraid that his sister would become the “forgotten kidnap victim” as so much more attention was placed on Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus.
He also said that she would not have a home to go to when she was released from hospital – unlike the other two victims.
Freddie Knight himself, who says he was kicked out of his mother’s house 18 years ago when he was just 14, didn’t even know his sister was gone until he saw the news on TV.
He was among the first of her family members to see her after her rescue.
“She’s really weak. She’s just trying to cope with everything right now.
“She didn’t talk much. When she’s ready, she will tell me but I don’t want to bring it up until then. She’s really traumatized right now.”
Barbara Knight has contended all week that police did not do enough to try and find her daughter.
The police department’s policy on investigating missing adults at the time states that an officer must go and see if a missing person has been found, then inform the FBI within two hours so the person can be removed from the National Crime Information Center database.
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Ariel Castro claims in a suicide note written years ago that he was abused as a child and raped by an uncle, it was revealed today.
According to a law enforcement source, the letter contained details about Ariel Castro’s whole life and the three abductions – detailing what led him to kidnap the three women off the street and hold them captive for ten years.
The FBI found the note when they were searching his house and said they were fairly certain from its contents that it was a suicide letter.
Ariel Castro detailed that he wanted all his money to be left to his victims Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight.
Ariel Castro claims in a suicide note written years ago that he was abused as a child and raped by an uncle
His home on Seymour Avenue is now a crime scene, with investigators carrying out numerous pieces of evidence – including ropes and chains.
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.
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”.
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.
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Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro, who is accused of abducting, raping and beating Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus is the father of Amanda’s 6-year-old daughter Jocelyn, DNA tests have confirmed.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a news release this morning that state lab technicians worked through the night to confirm that the child born in captivity belonged to Ariel Castro.
Ariel Castro’s DNA was also tested to see if it was connected to any state crimes, specifically to similar missing teen cases in the area, but it resulted in no matches.
National results are still pending, The Plain Dealer reports.
Details emerged this week about the circumstances surrounding Jocelyn’s birth in the house of horrors Ariel Castro held the women in for a decade.
Amanda Berry, 27, is believed to have given birth to her daughter in an inflatable child’s swimming pool to ensure minimal mess. Michelle Knight was allegedly ordered by Ariel Castro to deliver the baby and was told she would be killed if the baby died.
Ariel Castro is the father of Amanda Berry’s 6-year-old daughter Jocelyn as DNA tests have confirmed
Baby Jocelyn was not breathing when she was born but Michelle Knight is said to have given her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to get her breathing started, in turn saving both their lives.
Jocelyn is said to have been instrumental in the escape of the three women as she alerted her mother Amanda Berry that Ariel Castro, 52, had left the house, prompting her to call for help from inside the boarded house.
The girl is believed to have told her mother: “Daddy has gone to see grandma.”
Jocelyn was the only one who would be taken out of the house by Ariel Castro on weekends to see his mother, Lillian Rodriguez. She called the elderly woman grandmother.
The girl was also seen out recently at a playground with Ariel Castro.
When Ariel Castro was asked who the young girl was he told neighbors she was his girlfriend’s daughter.
Police chief Ed Tomba said Amanda Berry had been home schooling her daughter.
Ohio prosecutors plan to seek aggravated murder charges that could carry the death penalty against Ariel Castro, the man suspected of imprisoning three women for about a decade at his Cleveland home.
The charges relate to alleged forced miscarriages suffered by one victim.
Ariel Castro, 52, was arraigned in court earlier for the kidnap and rape of Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23 and Michelle Knight, 32.
Amanda Berry escaped on Monday and was able to raise the alarm.
Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said the murder charges were based on evidence from one of the women held captive in Ariel Castro’s house that he had impregnated her, then physically abused and starved her in order to induce miscarriages.
“I fully intend to seek charges for each and every act of sexual violence, rape, each day of kidnapping, every felonious assault, all his attempted murders, and each act of aggravated murder he committed by terminating pregnancies that the offender perpetuated against the hostages during this decade-long ordeal,” Tim McGinty told a news conference.
“My office will also engage in a formal process in which we evaluate to seek charges eligible for the death penalty.”
“This child kidnapper operated a torture chamber and private prison in the heart of our city,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, Ariel Castro appeared in court in Cleveland, handcuffed and dressed in blue overalls. He did not enter a plea.
Ohio prosecutors plan to seek aggravated murder charges that could carry the death penalty against Ariel Castro
He is charged with four counts of kidnapping, covering the three initial abduction victims and Jocelyn, Amanda Berry’s six-year-old daughter, who was apparently conceived and born in captivity.
The former school bus driver also faces three counts of rape, one against each woman.
Bail was set at $8 million, $2 million for each victim, meaning he will remain in custody.
Ariel Castro has been placed on suicide watch and will be kept in isolation, his court-appointed lawyer Kathleen DeMetz told reporters.
According to CBS News, Ariel Castro confessed to his crimes in a long, hand-written letter, apparently a suicide note that was found in the house.
In the letter Ariel Castro said he had been raped as a child by a relative, a law enforcement source told the US network.
Ariel Castro’s two brothers, Pedro and Onil, also appeared in court on unrelated charges. They had been arrested, but police found no evidence linking them to the crime.
Pedro Castro was fined $100 for public drinking, while two minor counts against Onil Castro were dropped.
On Thursday, ariel Castro’s daughter, Arlene, who was one of the last people to see Gina DeJesus before she disappeared in 2004 aged 14, wept during a TV interview.
Describing herself as “disappointed, embarrassed, mainly devastated”, she apologized to Gina DeJesus.
The three women were all abducted after accepting rides from Ariel Castro, according to a leaked police report.
They told officials they could only remember being outside twice during their time in captivity.
Cleveland City Councilman Brian Cummins said the women had told police they had only gone as far as a garage on the property, disguised in wigs and hats.
Brian Cummins, citing police information, said the victims had been kept apart inside the house until their captor felt he had enough control to allow them to mingle.
Amanda Berry, whose disappearance in 2003 the day before her 17th birthday was widely publicized in the local media, returned to her sister’s home on Wednesday.
A few hours later, Gina DeJesus, who went missing in 2004 at the age of 14, was also brought home.
Michelle Knight, who was 20 when she disappeared in 2002, remains in hospital in a good condition.
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Charles Ramsey has been hailed as America’s hero since rescuing Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight, who were kidnapped ten years ago in Cleveland.
Countless TV interviews and accolades, it looks like Charles Ramsey is here to stay in our good graces for a while for his amazing deed.
But what is there to know about Charles Ramsey?
Age: 43
Occupation: Dishwasher at Hodge’s Restaurant in Cleveland
Fun fact: Charles Ramsey attended Charles F. Brush High School in Cleveland which is rivals to Orange High School which Good Morning America anchor, George Stephanopoulos, attended.
Charles Ramsey appeared on GMA on May 8.
Since rescuing the three missing girls, he’s already been autotuned a few times (as well as chopped and screwed, unfortunately).
Charles Ramsey lived next door to where Ariel Castro is alleged to have kept the women in a makeshift prison until Monday afternoon, when Ramsey happened to be home and heard Amanda Berry’s scream.
As he said: “I got the day off from work, so naturally you’re doing nothing.”
Actually, Charles Ramsey was “eating my McDonald’s,” a fact he trumpeted so frequently that the grateful food giant is trying to get in touch with him. A website that compiled some of Charles Ramsey’s television interviews kept count of how many times he mentioned McDonald’s in each.
Charles Ramsey has been hailed as America’s hero since rescuing Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight
McDonald’s seemed particularly delighted by the unexpected association with a hero. The corporation tweeted on Tuesday: “Way to go Charles Ramsey – we’ll be in touch.”
A company spokeswoman said Wednesday that it was trying to reach out to Charles Ramsey through its local franchise.
Charles Ramsey, 43, gave a series of interviews to Cleveland television stations as the story broke Monday night that were replayed on national news. CNN’s Anderson Cooper tracked him down for a lengthy conversation the next night. The interviews are performance art masterpieces, so filled with colorful language and astute reporting that he trended on Twitter and was the subject of Internet memes and an Auto-tuned song.
Similarly, a tape of a much more profane Charles Ramsey talking to a 911 operator (whom he later called an imbecile) is circulating on the Web.
During his initial interviews, Charles Ramsey said he was shocked to learn of allegations that Ariel Castro led a double life.
Charles Ramsey said he “used to barbecue with this dude. We eat ribs and what-not, listen to salsa music”.
He attracted so much attention that websites and media organizations dug into his past. He did jail time for domestic violence in the 1990s, according to the Ohio Department of Corrections.
Charles Ramsey, whose colorful television interviews quickly rocketed him to Internet stardom, was first charged with domestic violence in 1997, according to court records obtained by The Smoking Gun. He pleaded no contest to the charge and was found guilty. While waiting to be sentenced in July 1998, Charles Ramsey was arrested for domestic violence again.
He was ordered to serve six months in jail, placed on 5-year probation and directed to attend a domestic violence counseling program, the court records show.
Charles Ramsey was arrested again for domestic abuse in 2003, this time sentenced to eight months in prison. His wife, Rochelle, with whom he fathered a daughter, subsequently filed for divorce, citing “extreme cruelty”.
Rochelle, who is now remarried, told The Smoking Gun that Charles Ramsey “eventually apologized for battering her”.
There was some indication Charles Ramsey’s attention was prompting some jealousy. A Cleveland television station ran a story quoting Angel Cordero, another neighbor of Ariel Castro’s, who also said he was there helping Amanda Berry on Monday.
“I was there and I was first,” Angel Cordero said, according to WEWS-TV.
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Ariel Castro, who is accused of imprisoning three women for about a decade in Cleveland, has made his first court appearance.
Ariel Castro, 52, is charged with kidnap and rape. He did not enter a plea.
Bail was set at $8 million, meaning in effect that he will remain in custody.
The women were abducted at different times and held in Ariel Castro’s house. One of those held, Amanda Berry, 27, escaped on Monday and raised the alarm.
The other women freed soon afterwards were Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32.
Ariel Castro, handcuffed and dressed in blue overalls, remained silent and looked down while lawyers spoke to the judge at Cleveland Municipal Court on Thursday.
County prosecutor Brian Murphy told the court: “The charges against Mr. Castro are based on premeditated, deliberate, depraved decisions to snatch three young ladies from Cleveland West Side streets to be used in whatever self-gratifying, self-serving way he saw fit.”
Ariel Castro is charged with four counts of kidnapping, covering the three initial abduction victims and Jocelyn, Amanda Berry’s six-year-old daughter, who was apparently conceived and born in captivity.
The former school bus driver also faces three counts of rape, one against each woman. More charges may be added, officials have said.
Ariel Castro, who is accused of imprisoning three women for about a decade in Cleveland, has made his first court appearance
Two of Ariel Castro’s brothers, Pedro and Onil, were also arrested, but police found no evidence they were involved in the crime.
They appeared in court alongside Ariel Castro on unrelated minor charges. Pedro Castro was fined $100 for public drinking, while two charges against Onil Castro were dropped.
Ariel Castro has been put on suicide watch and will be kept in isolation, his court-appointed lawyer Kathleen DeMetz told reporters.
The three women were all abducted after accepting rides from Ariel Castro, according to a police report leaked to the media.
On Thursday, Ariel Castro’s daughter, Arlene, who was one of the last people to see Gina DeJesus before she disappeared in 2004 aged 14, wept during a TV interview.
Describing herself as “disappointed, embarrassed, mainly devastated”, she apologized to Gina DeJesus.
The women told officials they could only remember being outside twice during their time in captivity.
Cleveland City Councilman Brian Cummins said the women had told police they had only gone as far as a garage on the property, disguised in wigs and hats.
Brian Cummins, citing police information, said the victims had been kept apart inside the house until their captor felt he had enough control to allow them to mingle.
Michelle knight was forced to help Amanda Berry deliver her daughter, and was threatened with death if the child did not survive.
Amanda Berry’s baby was born in a plastic inflatable children’s swimming pool on Christmas Day 2006, according to a police report.
She was not the only woman who became pregnant during captivity, Brian Cummins said. One of the three women had suffered at least five miscarriages.
Ariel Castro is accused of having intentionally caused the miscarriages by starving her for weeks and beating her
in the abdomen, according to the city councilman.
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.
Police said he had been co-operating with them, waiving his right to silence and agreeing to a test to establish Jocelyn’s paternity.
On Wednesday hundreds of cheering people welcomed home Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry and her daughter.
Amanda Berry, whose disappearance in 2003 the day before her 17th birthday was widely publicized in the local media, escaped on Monday evening by kicking the door and screaming for help, while her alleged captor was out.
Michelle Knight, who was 20 when she disappeared in 2002, remains in hospital.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports Michelle Knight had complained of chest pains during her rescue, but she is listed as in good condition.
Charges against Ariel Castro:
- Four counts of kidnapping – one for each woman and one for a six-year-old girl police say was born in captivity
- Three counts of rape, one for each woman, representing what police say is years of sexual abuse
- Bail is set at $8 million, $2 million for each alleged victim
- Charges may be added as the investigation proceeds
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Charles Ramsey, the Cleveland hero who helped rescue three women after a decade of captivity in his neighbor’s house, appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America on Wednesday morning in his latest interview.
Charles Ramsey, who has emerged an overnight sensation both for his good citizenship and animated on-camera commentary, told George Stephanopoulos via satellite that he had been living next door to Ariel Castro for a year but hadn’t seen any clues that Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight were being held inside.
Cleveland hero Charles Ramsey appeared on Good Morning America on Wednesday morning in his latest interview
On Monday, Amanda Berry got his attention while Ariel Castro was away and Charles Ramsey helped her out of the house.
Coverage of the kidnappings has featured prominently on the network morning shows. On GMA, George Stephanopoulos pressed Charles Ramsey on whether he had noticed anything awry next door prior to the women’s escape.
“Not one iota because I wouldn’t have been speaking to this dude,” said Charles Ramsey, noting how “scary” it was to learn what his neighbor had done.
“So either I’m that stupid or [he’s] that good,” Charles Ramsey added.
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A second Ariel Castro’s neighbor, Angel Cordero, is coming forward claiming that he was the one to save Amanda Berry from the house where she had been kept for nearly a decade.
Angel Cordero was never mentioned by Charles Ramsey, the entertaining folk hero who has captured the attention of the nation in the wake of the dramatic rescue Monday night.
Spanish speaking Angel Cordero, who has his niece Ashley translate for him in interviews, said that he was sitting on a neighbor’s porch when they heard some commotion and went to check it out, only to find the woman desperate for help.
“[The neighbor] had told me that there was something going on in the house at the front and we went to go see and all we heard was screaming,” Angel Cordero told Piers Morgan on CNN.
“We saw a hand outside the house that was moving up and down so we went to go check what was going on and she had told me that she had been kidnapped for ten years.
“I kicked the door at the bottom because I was trying to get it open because it was too hard so I got it at the bottom and that’s when Amanda ran out of the house.”
Angel Cordero claims that he was the one to save Amanda Berry from the house where she had been kept for nearly a decade
The detail of Amanda Berry poking her arm out of the locked door matches the description given by Charles Ramsey, who was in the crowd outside of the police station following the rescue of the three young women who Ariel Castro kidnapped years ago.
In his discussion with CNN on Wednesday night, Angel Cordero said that he was able to quickly understand the danger of the situation and insist that they run for fear of Ariel Castro’s return.
“When Amanda came out she returned to get her daughter and she took her out of the hole at the bottom of the door and I told her <<Quickly, let’s go across the street to [the neighbor’s] house just in case the man comes back so you won’t get hurt or anything>> so she went to [the neighbor’s] house and she used her phone and that’s when she let the police know what was going on,” Angel Cordero told CNN through the translation of his niece.
When Piers Morgan asked about Charles Ramsey’s role in the harrowing rescue, Angel Cordero did not mention his presence at all.
“The first one that talked directly to Amanda was me and she was the one that told me what was going on and she told me that there was two other women in the house,” Angel Cordero said.
In an earlier interview with local channel, Angel Cordero went into a bit more detail about Charles Ramsey’s role, saying that by the time 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.”
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.
For his part, Charles Ramsey didn’t mention Angel Cordero by name but did say that when he heard the woman screaming he saw his neighbor run across the street and so he went along to see what was going on.
His concern appears to be with the young women as well, saying that he does not deserve any of the reward money that was offered in relation to the case.
“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.
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.
“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.”
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