Ariel Castro kidnappings: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 41°28′21″N 81°41′52″W / 41.47250°N 81.69778°W / 41.47250; -81.69778 (2207 Seymour Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio)
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Three young women from [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], '''Amanda Berry''', '''Georgina DeJesus''', and '''Michele Knight''', had been missing for between nine and eleven years when they were found alive on May 6, 2013. They were freed from a house belonging to a man named Ariel Castro, one of the suspects in their disappearances, three miles from where they had disappeared. A six-year-old daughter of Amanda Berry also escaped.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sheeran|first=Thomas|title=Frantic 911 Call Leads to 3 Missing Women in Ohio|url=http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/women-missing-decade-found-alive-ohio-19121526|publisher=ABC News|accessdate=May 7, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Three US women missing for years in fair condition|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22430145|accessdate=May 7, 2013|date=May 7, 2013}}</ref>
Three young women from [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], '''Amanda Berry''', '''Georgina DeJesus''', and '''Michele Knight''', had been missing for between nine and eleven years when they were found alive on May 6, 2013. They were freed from a house belonging to a man named Ariel Castro, one of the suspects in their disappearances, three miles from where they had disappeared. A six-year-old daughter of Amanda Berry also escaped.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sheeran|first=Thomas|title=Frantic 911 Call Leads to 3 Missing Women in Ohio|url=http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/women-missing-decade-found-alive-ohio-19121526|publisher=ABC News|accessdate=May 7, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Three US women missing for years in fair condition|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22430145|accessdate=May 7, 2013|date=May 7, 2013}}</ref>


The young women had been 16 (Berry), 14 (DeJesus), and 20 years of age (Knight) at the times of their disappearances, in the years 2002–04. The young women had multiple pregnancies, at least five live births, and multiple [[miscarriage]]s. Police said the women were sometimes kept in "chains and bondage".
The young women had been 16 (Berry), 14 (DeJesus), and 20 years of age (Knight) at the times of their disappearances, in the years 2002–04. The young women had multiple pregnancies, at least five live births, and multiple [[miscarriage]]s.{{Citation needed}} Police said the women were sometimes kept in "chains and bondage".{{Citation needed}}


Ariel Castro and his two brothers, Pedro Castro and Oneil Castro, were arrested on May 6, 2013, shortly after the women escaped.
Ariel Castro and his two brothers, Pedro Castro and Oneil Castro, were arrested on May 6, 2013, shortly after the women escaped.

Revision as of 00:54, 8 May 2013

2013 Cleveland, Ohio, missing trio
LocationConfinement: 2207 Seymour Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio
Coordinates41°28′21″N 81°41′52″W / 41.47250°N 81.69778°W / 41.47250; -81.69778 (2207 Seymour Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio)
DateAugust 22, 2002 (2002-08-22) – May 6, 2013
Attack type
Kidnapping, rape
VictimsMichele Knight, Amanda Berry, Georgina DeJesus, and unnamed 6-year-old daughter of Amanda Berry

Three young women from Cleveland, Ohio, Amanda Berry, Georgina DeJesus, and Michele Knight, had been missing for between nine and eleven years when they were found alive on May 6, 2013. They were freed from a house belonging to a man named Ariel Castro, one of the suspects in their disappearances, three miles from where they had disappeared. A six-year-old daughter of Amanda Berry also escaped.[1][2]

The young women had been 16 (Berry), 14 (DeJesus), and 20 years of age (Knight) at the times of their disappearances, in the years 2002–04. The young women had multiple pregnancies, at least five live births, and multiple miscarriages.[citation needed] Police said the women were sometimes kept in "chains and bondage".[citation needed]

Ariel Castro and his two brothers, Pedro Castro and Oneil Castro, were arrested on May 6, 2013, shortly after the women escaped.

Abductions

Michele Knight

Michele Knight was last seen when she left her cousin's house on August 22, 2002. She disappeared near West 116th Street and Lorain Avenue, on a day she was to appear in court for a child custody case concerning her son.[3]

She was 20 years old at the time of her disappearance.[4][5][6] In a 2002 missing persons report, police stated she had a mental condition.[7]

At the time, family members believed that Knight may have left on her own, frustrated because she had lost custody of her son.[3] Her mother thought she had once seen her with an older man at a shopping plaza on West 117th Street.[8][7]

Amanda Berry

Amanda Marie Berry went missing on April 21, 2003, the day before her 17th birthday.[9] She was believed to have made it home from her job at Burger King at West 110th Street and Lorain Avenue, and she changed from her uniform, but no one witnessed her there.[10] She left money and all her clothes at home, and was known to have had plans to celebrate her 17th birthday the next day.[10]

Police initially considered Berry a runaway, until a man used her cell phone to call her mother, Louwanna Miller, claiming the teen would return in a few days and that they were now married.[10] Self-described psychic Sylvia Browne told Miller in 2004 that her daughter Amanda was dead and that she was "in water."[11][12] Miller searched for her daughter for three years, but died in 2006 of heart failure.[13]

Berry was featured in a 2004 segment of America's Most Wanted, which re-aired in 2005 and 2006 and linked her to Gina DeJesus.[13][14] They were profiled on The Montel Williams Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Before her disappearance Berry had been in a gifted program at John Marshall High School, but had switched to an online home school program in which she was on track for early graduation.[10]

Gina DeJesus

2004 FBI sketch of a suspect in DeJesus' disappearance

Georgina "Gina" Lynn DeJesus went missing at age 14.[15] She was last seen at a pay phone at about 3 p.m. on April 2, 2004, as she headed home from middle school at West 105th Street and Lorain Avenue. She and suspect Ariel Castro's daughter Arlene Castro had called Ariels's wife, Grimilda Figueroa, seeking permission for a sleepover at DeJesus' house, but the answer was no.[16] Berry and DeJesus disappeared within five blocks of each other, perhaps even on the same block.[17][18]

No Amber Alert was issued the day DeJesus disappeared, because no one had witnessed her being abducted. The lack of an Amber Alert angered her father, Felix DeJesus, who said in 2006 that he believed the public would listen even if the alerts become routine.[19]

A week after Gina's disappearance police released a sketch and description of an Hispanic man aged 25 to 35, 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) tall, weighing 165 to 185 pounds (75 to 82 kg), with green eyes and a pencil-thin beard. The suspect had been seen near her school driving a light blue or white car, and asking for Gina.[20]

DeJesus was featured on America's Most Wanted in 2004, 2005, and 2006, and the television program also linked her to Berry.[21] The disappearances received regular media attention over the years, as recently as 2012, while family and others held vigils and searched for Gina and Amanda. Ariel Castro was identified by Gina's family in video footage of two of these vigils[22][23] and he reportedly participated in a search party and tried to get close to the family.[24] Police had an active investigation, offering a $25,000 reward for information on their location.[25][26]

Discovery and aftermath

On May 6, 2013, Knight, DeJesus, Berry, and a previously unknown and not publicly named 6-year-old female child of Berry were found in a residential area at 2207 Seymour Avenue, just south of downtown Cleveland, three miles from where they had disappeared.[27][28][29][30] Their rescuer, Charles Ramsey, said he heard a woman inside the house screaming for help. Because the door was locked, he kicked a hole in it. The woman called 9-1-1 after breaking out of the house, and said, "Help me; I am Amanda Berry. I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for 10 years. And I'm here and I'm free now."[31]

All three women and the child were taken to MetroHealth Medical Center, suffering from severe dehydration and slightly malnourished but otherwise in good health.[32] They were all released from the hospital by the next morning.

Arrests and charges

A 52-year-old male named Ariel Castro and his two brothers, Pedro Castro, 54, and Oneil Castro, 50, were arrested on May 6, 2013, shortly after the women escaped.[33]

Investigation developments

Police said the women were sometimes kept in "chains and bondage" in the basement.[34] The young women had multiple pregnancies, at least five live births, and multiple miscarriages.[35] A Jeep Cherokee and a red pickup truck were towed from home where the women were held. A cadaver dog, along with various law enforcement officers, searched Ariel Castro's property.[36]

Suspects' backgrounds

Ariel Castro

Ariel Castro knew the DeJesus family, and his family had grown up in the same west Cleveland neighborhood, according to his uncle, Julio Castro, who ran a grocery store half a block from the Castro house.[37][38]

Castro lived in the two-story house located on Seymour Avenue since 1992. The home had been in foreclosure for 3 years of unpaid real estate taxes, at the time of his arrest.[39] Neighbors described him as normal, and observed that he mostly kept to himself.[40]

Ariel Castro had been arrested for domestic violence in 1993, but a grand jury declined to indict him.[41] He was also arrested in December 1993 for disorderly conduct. He pleaded guilty to the charge. In 1996, Ariel Castro was accused of pulling a fence post from a neighbor's property. The neighbor's 6-year-old daughter stepped in the hole and fell, hurting herself. Court documents detailed significant hostility between the neighbors, and Castro admitted he spoke with police "on a number of occasions about the neighbor. Castro was ordered to pay $241 in damages.[42]

According to a 2005 filing in Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court, Ariel is accused of attacking his former wife, Grimilda Figueroa, who died in 2012. Figueroa twice suffered a broken nose, and suffered broken ribs, a knocked-out tooth, a blood clot on her brain, and two dislocated shoulders. Attorney Robert Ferreri requested that a judge "keep [Castro] from threatening to kill" Figueroa, and said Figueroa had full custody with no visitation for [Castro] of the children, but "Nevertheless, Castro frequently abducts daughters and keeps them from mother."[42]

Ariel Castro was stopped six times by Cleveland Police between 1995 and 2008 for traffic violations.[43]

Ariel Castro used to work as a bus driver for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, but was fired in November 2012 for making an illegal U-turn with children on the bus.[37][44]

Pedro Castro and Oneil Castro

Pedro and Oneil Castro have addresses elsewhere in Cleveland.[4]

A Cleveland resident named Pedro Castro told Fox8 in July 2012: "That's a waste of money," referring to a police search of property for the possible remains of Amanda Berry. It has not been verified if this Pedro Castro and the suspect Pedro Castro are the same person.[45]

Related individuals

Ariel Castro has at least four adult children, including three daughters.[46] Social media posts say he has five grandchildren.[42]

Arlene Castro, a daughter of Ariel, was a school friend of DeJesus and appeared on America's Most Wanted in 2005 saying she was the one who last saw DeJesus. DeJesus gave her 50 cents to call home.[47]

Another of Ariel Castro's daughters, Emily Castro is in an Indiana prison serving 25 years for the attempted murder by slashing the throat of her then-11-month-old daughter in 2008. [48] She also tried to kill herself with a knife in the same event.[49] Her brother Ariel "Anthony" Castro (same first name as his father) was reported to say she was mentally ill.[48]

Anthony wrote an article in June 2004 about the Berry and DeJesus disappearances for the Plain Press, when he was a journalism student at Bowling Green State University.[41][50] He even interviewed the mother of DeJesus for the piece. The father-son relationship and authorship of the article was confirmed by CNN in a phone interview with Anthony Castro.[citation needed].

Investigation prior to discovery

Local police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) maintained active investigations after the disappearances, following many leads. The investigations into the disappearance of DeJesus and Berry were widely covered by media regionally over 10 years, and on national/international TV shows.

Other criminal charges related to the investigation

In January 2013, Robert Wolford, a prison inmate who used to live in the neighborhood from which the girls disappeared, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice, making a false report and making a false alarm for providing a false burial tip in the disappearance of Berry. He was taken to a location in Cleveland, which was dug up with backhoes, but at which the police found nothing.[19][13]

Disappearance of Ashley Summers

Since 2008, police have been investigating as possibly related the disappearance of Ashley Nicole Summers. Summers was born June 16, 1993, and last seen on July 6, 2007.[51][52] Summers also disappeared from the same five-block area in Cleveland as the girls who were found. She was initially reported as a runaway after a family argument, when she took her clothes. She called her mother a month later to say she was well, but she has not been heard from since. She may have been spotted in a car in November 2007 by a relative.[53][17] In April 2009, the FBI said it suspected that the same man abducted Summers, Berry, and DeJesus, a belief that has not changed with the recovery of Berry and DeJesus alive.[52]

See also

References

  1. ^ Sheeran, Thomas. "Frantic 911 Call Leads to 3 Missing Women in Ohio". ABC News. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  2. ^ "Three US women missing for years in fair condition". May 7, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "The three girls abducted in Cleveland all went missing on the SAME BLOCK and were held captive three miles (5 km) away". Daily Mail Reporter. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Debbi Wilgoren (March 19, 2013). "Police: Three rescued Cleveland women, 6-year-old are in good health". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  5. ^ Seitz, Colleen. "Michelle Knight, missing Cleveland woman, disappeared in 2002". Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  6. ^ "Three brothers arrested over Cleveland abductions". Reuters. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  7. ^ a b Northeast Ohio. "Michelle Knight's 'normal teenage life,' plagued by troubles in years before disappearance". cleveland.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  8. ^ Atassi, Leila. "Berry, DeJesus, Knight found alive, police source confirms". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  9. ^ "Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus, Michele Knight, Ohio women missing about a decade, found alive, report says". Cbsnews.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  10. ^ a b c d "The Charley Project: Amanda Marie Berry". Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  11. ^ "Amanda Berry's mother asks Psychic Sylvia Browne 'Is she out there'". WKYC News. November 18, 2004. NBC. WKYC. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  12. ^ "Page 2: Daughter Found With 3 Women Missing for a Decade – ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  13. ^ a b c Northeast Ohio. "Search continues for Amanda Berry's body on West Side of Cleveland". cleveland.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  14. ^ "Missing Children | Amanda Berry | Case". AMW. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  15. ^ Northeast Ohio. "Six long days, Gina still missing Parents, police, city officials focus on case at community meeting | cleveland.com". Blog.cleveland.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  16. ^ Dissell, Rachel (May 7, 2013). "Suspect's daughter said in 2004 she was the last to see Gina DeJesus (video)". cleveland.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  17. ^ a b By Philip Rosenbaum Nancy Grace Producer. "Three teens disappear from same neighborhood". CNN. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  18. ^ Louise Boyle. "Missing Ohio girls were found just 3 MILES from Cleveland block were they disappeared despite huge police search". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  19. ^ a b "3 missing women found in Cleveland, Ohio; man arrested". Necn.com. April 21, 2003. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  20. ^ "Georgina Lynn DeJesus". The Charley Project. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  21. ^ "Missing Children | Gina DeJesus | Case". AMW. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  22. ^ http://globalnews.ca/video/542366/extended-interview-with-family-of-kidnapping-victim-gina-dejesus/
  23. ^ http://www.waff.com/story/22180697/dejesus-family-gina-knew-suspected-kidnapper-ariel-castro
  24. ^ http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/05/castro_family_connections_to_g.html
  25. ^ Northeast Ohio. "Vigil today for Gina DeJesus, missing for eight years". cleveland.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  26. ^ Northeast Ohio. "New search for Gina DeJesus comes up empty Family's day is filled with anxiety, relief | cleveland.com". Blog.cleveland.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  27. ^ [1]
  28. ^ "3 brothers arrested as missing women found in Ohio". Shreveport Times. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  29. ^ "3 Three women escape US dungeon after missing for 10 YEARS". The Sun. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  30. ^ "Cleveland police: Missing teens Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus found alive, appear to be OK". News 5 Cleveland. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  31. ^ "911 call – 'I've been kidnapped!' – cops find three women missing for years". CNN. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  32. ^ "2 WOMEN, MISSING FOR A DECADE, FOUND ALIVE IN OHIO". Associated Press. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  33. ^ They are in custody with formal charges pending.3 men arrested in Ohio kidnapped women case are brothers: Ariel Castro, Pedro Castro and Oneil Castro
  34. ^ Seitz, Colleen (May 7, 2013). "Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus: Chains, bondage found in Seymour Avenue home". Newsnet5.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  35. ^ Waterhouse, Mike (May 7, 2013). "Police source: Multiple pregnancies, miscarriages among missing women found in Cleveland home". Newsnet5.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  36. ^ "Notice board". CNN. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  37. ^ a b "Police: No indication women were being held at home". CNN.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  38. ^ John Coyne and Thomas J. Sheeran (April 21, 2003). "Frantic 911 Call Leads to 3 Missing Women in Ohio". Nation.time.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  39. ^ Scott Shaw/ Plain Dealer. "Cleveland house where missing women held captive is in foreclosure". cleveland.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  40. ^ "Suspect accused of taking three teens arrested with his brothers". Dailymail.co.uk. April 21, 2003. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  41. ^ a b "Berry, DeJesus, Knight found alive, police source confirms". cleveland.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  42. ^ a b c Cleveland police (November 1, 2011). "Kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro's daughter in prison for slashing her own daughter in 2008". cleveland.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  43. ^ "Ariel Castro owns home where missing women Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight found". Newsnet5.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  44. ^ "Ariel Castro Arrested as Suspect in Abduction and Disappearance of Three Cleveland Women". Cleveland Leader. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  45. ^ "Police on Berry Search: 'We Had Our Hopes Up'". FOX8.com. February 19, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  46. ^ Fredericks, Bob (May 7, 2013). "Daughter of suspect who allegedly kidnapped, raped 3 Ohio women serving time for slashing her own baby's throat". New York Post. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  47. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cleveland-kidnapping-latest-police-twice-visited-house-in-ohio--but-missed-three-women-held-captive-for-a-decade-8605381.html
  48. ^ a b Stacklin, Jeff. "Authorities visited home of Cleveland man who held 3 women captive | The Lookout". News.yahoo.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  49. ^ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/amanda-berry-how-castro-brothers-1875030
  50. ^ "Son of accused had written about missing Cleveland teen". USA Today. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  51. ^ "Cleveland missing women: Three rescued after decade in captivity". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  52. ^ a b Northeast Ohio. "FBI agents at Seymour Avenue home where Amanda Berry escaped are remembering Ashley Summers, too". cleveland.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  53. ^ "Ashley Nicole Summers". The Charley Project. Retrieved May 7, 2013.

External links

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