3 Ohio women missing for decade found alive, as cops arrest 52-year-old man

Published May 06, 2013

FoxNews.com


CLEVELAND – An unnamed 52-year-old man is in custody and three women who disappeared about a decade ago were found alive Monday in a residential area just south of downtown, within a few miles of where they disappeared.

Police described the suspect only as a Hispanic male but said they planned to provide more information at a news conference Tuesday.

Cheering crowds gathered Monday night on the street near the home where police said Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and a third woman were found earlier in the day. The identity of the third woman hadn't been confirmed, but Fox 8 and other local media identified her as Michele Knight.

Police didn't immediately provide any details of how the women were found but said they appeared to be in good health and had been taken to a hospital for evaluation. One neighbor, Charles Ramsey, told Fox 8 he heard screaming, found Berry at the door of the house and helped her call police.

"Help me, I'm Amanda Berry. ... I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for 10 years. And I'm here, I'm free now," Berry can be heard saying on the frantic 911 call, made at 5:51 p.m. Monday.

She asks for police to respond "now, before he gets back" and then identifies her kidnapper as "Ariel Castro."

Berry disappeared at age 16 on April 21, 2003, when she called her sister to say she was getting a ride home from her job at a Burger King. DeJesus disappeared at age 14 on her way home from school about a year later. The Plain Dealer newspaper reports Knight had been missing since 2002.

Loved ones said they hadn't given up hope of seeing Berry and DeJesus again. Among them was Kayla Rogers, a childhood friend of DeJesus.

"I've been praying, never forgot about her, ever," Rogers told The Plain Dealer. "This is amazing. This is a celebration. I'm so happy. I just want to see her walk out of those doors so I can hug her."

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

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

In January, a prison inmate was sentenced to 4 1/2 years after admitting he provided a false burial tip in the disappearance of Berry, who had last been seen the day before her 17th birthday. A judge in Cleveland sentenced Robert Wolford on his guilty plea to obstruction of justice, making a false report and making a false alarm.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/06/2-ohio-te ... w-details/

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I was just reading this. How could this happen with 3 women for 10 years?? Did the guy dig 3 wells in his basement?

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

The cost in lotion and baskets alone must've been a fortune.

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This sounds like something from Law and Order SVU. My elation is tempered only by the realization that they probably endured unspeakable crimes at the hands of the pervert who kidnapped them. I hope they're able to reintegrate seamlessly and live happily.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Three brothers, Ariel Castro being the brother who owned the home, is the early word.

Babies were made and delivered...so unless 1 of the bros is an MD or a mid-wife or some shit...others had to have some notion of what was up, esp since
these girls were locals with missing posters with their faces plastered all over the area.

Charles Ramsey's 911 call is worth a listen:

http://t.co/Pyhy8Oynqy

pfft.... this guy is a fucking amateur compared to that dude josef fritzl in australia who like, kept his daughter/s locked up in a secret basement with the lovechilds he produced whilst fucking them over the years.

now THAT'S getting it done. ho-hum this isn't even as fun as that one missing kid who got nicked at age 8 and spent the next ~15-20 years living in some dude's back yard printing out church books for him and his wife. that's a story. this is just begging for that dana carvey carson impression like "that's weird and wild stuff; i did not know that"

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This man is a treasure.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj7AOyxpIIY

"We listen to salsa music!"

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Seems like a terrific neighborhood -- the guy behind and to the right of Mr. Treasure has a nice neck tattoo of what appears to be a Dachshund?

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Awesome story. Im sure their families had given up hope on some level.


And Yes, that guy is a treasure

They better give him the $25K reward too.

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You dont hear much about that stuff after the fact. Do they usually pay out?

He'll get that and more in endorsements.

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I know the leads to capture the ex-cop in cali weren't paying out as they all said "captured alive" and you know damn well the police had no intention to capture a ex-cop cop killer alive.

I read somwhere last night that Amanda Berry's mom held a vigil in March or so for the 10th anniversary of her coming up missing. She was kidnapped the day before her 17th b-day on her way home from work.

The article mentioned that a $25K reward was still being offered. Charles Ramsey better get paid.

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It's amazing that they were found after all this time, but after the first 30 seconds of "feel good", I start thinking about what the last decade has been like..... Makes me wish for public torture and executions. Thinking something like the end of 'Braveheart' without the whole "freeeeedddddooooooommmmmm" thing

Yes, let's go back to the dark ages.

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There was no way to televise it in the dark ages.

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Instead of that, think of all the pain and suffering that would have continued if they werent found.