Missing Cleveland Women Found Alive
By MARK PETERS
Cleveland police and federal investigators were trying to determine how three women missing for about a decade remained hidden even as authorities held vigils and followed up on a regular string of new leads.
Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were found alive on Monday after Ms. Berry escaped from a house just south of downtown Cleveland. A 6-year-old child who police say they now believe is Ms. Berry's daughter was also found.
Amanda Berry, center, reunited with her sister on May 6, 2013 in Cleveland, Ohio after Berry and two other women who had been missing for a decade were found alive in a house not far from where they were last seen.
Three women who went missing separately about a decade ago were found in a home just south of downtown Cleveland and likely had been tied up during years of captivity, said police, who arrested three brothers. Here is the 911 call with one of the women, Amanda Berry. Photo: Reuters
"The nightmare is over. These three young ladies have provided us with the ultimate definition of survival and perseverance. The healing can now begin," Stephen Anthony, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cleveland Division, said at a press conference Tuesday morning.
Police identified the three suspects as Ariel Castro, 52; Pedro Castro, 54; and their 50-year-old brother. Police said they responded twice to the house where the women were found over the last 15 years. The first was a report made by Ariel Castro of a fight in the street and the second was to investigate Mr. Castro, who worked as a school bus driver, after a child was left on a bus. Police didn't file charges in the incident.
Attempts by the Associated Press to reach Ariel Castro in jail were unsuccessful Monday. Messages to the sheriff's office and a jail spokesman went unanswered, and there was no public phone listing for the home, which was being searched by dozens of police officers and sheriff's deputies.
Police said they were regularly following up on tips on Ms. Berry, missing since 2003, and Ms. DeJesus, missing since 2004. There were fewer leads on Ms. Knight, who has been missing for 11 years and was 20 years old when reported missing.
The three women were found on Monday after Ms. Berry broke through the front door of the house and called police. The other two women left the house when police arrived. On a recorded 911 call, Ms. Berry said, "I'm Amanda Berry. I've been on the news for the last 10 years." She said she had been taken by someone and begged for police officers to arrive before he returned.
A neighbor, identified as Charles Ramsey, told a local television reporter that he heard screams from the house Monday night as he arrived home. "I'm eating my McDonanld's, I come outside," he said. "I see this girl going nuts trying to get out of a house. So I go on the porch. And she says, 'Help me get out, I've been in here a long time.' "
He said he then helped the woman kick open the bottom part of the front door to help her escape.
Police declined Tuesday morning to provide details on the conditions under which the woman had been living. A police spokesman said the women appeared to be in good health but were in need of a meal.
"We see this dude every day," Mr. Ramsey said in the TV interview, rebroadcast on CNN. "I eat barbecue with this dude." He said the man never did anything to arouse suspicion. "You look and you look away because he's not doing nothing but the average stuff. There's nothing exciting about him, until today."
—The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment