Ariel Castro, Man Accused In Ohio Kidnapping, Was Known By One Of His Victims: Family
Posted: 05/07/2013 3:14 pm EDT | Updated: 05/07/2013 3:15 pm EDT
The family of a woman who went missing 10 years ago and was found yesterday said their daughter knew their captor.
Gina DeJesus vanished in 2003, at the age of 14. She was found, along with Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight, in a Cleveland home on Monday afternoon. Berry had been reported missing in 2003, when she was 16, and Knight had disappeared at the age of 20 in 2002.
Ariel Castro, one of the three brothers arrested in connection with the case, was a "relative of DeJesus' best friend, possibly her father," according to WOIO.
Authorities recently released mugshots of the three men accused in the case, Ariel Castro, Onil Castro and Pedro Castro.
Juan Perez, who said he grew up two houses down from Ariel Castro, told NewsNet5 his neighbor seemed like "a good guy."
"He was a nice guy," Perez said of the former bus driver. "He gave the kids rides up and down the street on his four-wheeler. "I’ve known him since I was like five or six years old. He seemed like he was a good guy to the kids that were here."
NBC News reports that police visited Castro's home nine years ago after he had left one of his school bus passengers behind.
From NBC News:
In 2004, Cleveland police showed up at Ariel Castro's home on Seymour Avenue after Castro, a school bus driver, left behind one of his young passengers.
When no one answered, the cops left — never realizing that behind the door were two women who had vanished off the streets and would remain captive until they were rescued this week, along with a third woman missing for almost a decade.
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| Ariel Castro the kidnapper |
Three girls who went missing as teenagers were 'tied up with chains in basement dungeon for TEN YEARS' before escaping as three brothers arrested in Cleveland case
- Amanda Berry went missing in 2003 when she was 16-years-old
- Gina DeJesus disappeared when she was 14-years-old in 2004
- Michelle Knight disappeared in 2000 when she was 20-years-old
- All three of the women were found alive in a Cleveland home and are now being treated at a local hospital
- The 52-year-old man who owns the house has been arrested and is in police custody
- The women had a girl with them, thought to be about 6-years-old
- Police found 'chains hanging from ceilings' inside the home
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Three girls who went missing a decade ago have been found alive after they were kept tied up in the dungeon of a Cleveland, Ohio home.
Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus were found alive on Monday inside a house on 2200 block of Seymour Avenue near West 25th Street alongside a third woman identified as Michelle Knight.
A 52-year-old man named Ariel Castro has been arrested and is in police custody in connection to the case along with his two brothers, who are 50-years-old and 54-years-old respectively. The two other brothers names have not been released.
When the neighbor helped Berry out of the house, she was holding a young child, and there were reportedly other children in the home but it is unclear what their relationship is to the children.
Happy reunion: Amanda Berry (center) was all smiles at the Cleveland Hospital alongside her emotional sister (left) and a young girl that is believed to be the one who fled Ariel Castro's house with Berry
Found: Amanda Berry (left) and Gina DeJesus (right) were found alive in Cleveland on Monday following a decade-long search
'Help me I'm Amanda Berry...I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for ten years and I'm here. I'm free now,' Berry is heard saying in the call to police that has been publicly released.
'I need them now before he gets back!' she said in the frantic phone call to 911, going on to identify her captor as Ariel Castro, a 52-year-old Hispanic man.
Castro has lived in the house since 1992 and he was arrested for domestic violence in 1993.
Sources close to local station WOIO are telling the station that the women were reportedly tied up during their captivity and police found chains hanging from one of the ceilings.
They also reported that there were signs that dirt had recently been moved in the backyard of the house, though police continue to investigate whether or not the dirt will lead to any new evidence in the case. Police will hold a press conference Tuesday morning to address the case.
The search: FBI investigators remove a bag of evidence from the home that belongs to Ariel Castro, the man that Amanda Berry named during her frantic 911 call as being her captor
Horrific: Local reporters say that investigators found chains hanging from the ceiling in the house and the women were believed to have been tied up during their decade-long abduction
Berry disappeared on April 21, 2003, a day before her 17th birthday, and a year later then-14-year-old DeJesus went missing on April 2, 2004.
On Monday evening, DeJesus' cousin Sylvia Colon spoke to CNN, saying that the missing girl's mother Nancy Ruiz confirmed to relatives that Gina is alive and well in hospital.
'What a phenomenal mother's Day gift this is,' Ms Colon told the station.
Berry went missing shortly after she called her sister to say that she was getting a ride home from her job at Burger King. DeJesus went missing on her way home from school.
Michelle Knight went missing in 2000 at the age of 20-years-old.
They were found when a neighbor saw a woman, later identified as Amanda, screaming from inside a home in West Cleveland.
Awaiting good news: The disappearance cases have gripped the attention of all Cleveland residents for the past decade and crowds gathered at the police station on Monday evening
Questions answered: The families of DeJesus and Berry kept their names in the news, though little is known about the third woman who was found in the home, who has been identified as Michelle Knight
'I heard screaming, I'm eating my McDonalds, I come outside and I see this girl going nuts trying to get out of the house and I go on the porch and she says "Help me get out! I've been in here a long time,"' neighbor Charles Ramsey told local News Net 5.
'I go on the porch and she said "Help me get out. I’ve been here a long time." I figure it was domestic violence dispute.'
'She comes out with a little girl and says ‘Call 911, my name is Amanda Berry’... When she told me, it didn’t register.'
'It didn't register until I got on the phone with 911 and I said "I'm calling 911 for Amanda Berry- I thought this girl is dead."
Before they went missing: Amanda Berry, pictured before her disappearance, was last seen leaving her job at Burger King as she told her sister that she was getting a ride home
'That girl Amanda told the police "I ain't the only one, there are some more girls up inside that house" so they went.'
The women were taken to MetroHealth Medical Center, as they are reportedly suffering from severe dehydration and slightly malnourished but alive.
Charles Ramsey said that he was shocked about the discovery because the man who owns the home- who is thought to be the kidnapper- did not stay hidden from those around him.
'I've been here a year. I barbeque with this dude, we eat ribs and what not and listen to salsa music.
Not a clue that that girl was in that house or that anyone else was in there with,' Charles said of Castro.
Not a clue that that girl was in that house or that anyone else was in there with,' Charles said of Castro.
Other case: Gina DeJesus went missing in 2004 on her way home from school, and her parents think that part of the reason why her case was not given much attention was because no Amber Alert was issued since no one actually saw the abduction take place
'He's somebody you look and then you look away because he's just doing normal stuff.
'You got some big testicles to pull this one off because we see this guy every day,' he told NewsNet5.
EARLIER FALSE ALARM: THE 2006 HOAX THAT RAISED HOPES
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. --AP
Local news reporters told CNN that Castro is said to have worked as a bus driver for the Cleveland Metropolitan schools, though it is unclear whether that was the case when the women were kidnapped.
Crowds of Cleveland residents gathered at the police station and cheered as squad cars pulled into the station Monday night, and a similar crowd gathered outside of the hospital.
The disappearances of Amanda and Gina captured the attention of the entire city for the past decade, as their relatives have continually held vigils and kept the story alive in the local press.
Amanda's mother Louwanna Miller, died in March 2006 after the years of her daughter's disappearance had taken a toll on her deteriorating health. Local news reports said that she 'died of a broken heart'.
Amanda's sister has continued to keep the case in the public's attention since their mother died, and she has worked closely with the DeJesus family.
Earlier in the case, DeJesus' mother Nancy Ruiz raised the alarm that her daughter was the victim of human trafficking.
Help: A neighbor named Charles (pictured) was the one that heard the woman trying to get out and he helped break her out and call the police, when she identified herself as Amanda Berry
Scene: The women were helped out of this home on Seymour Avenue that belongs to Ariel Castro
'I always said it from the beginning; she was sold to the highest bidder,' Ms Ruiz said in April 2012.
Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson was the first public official to speak out about the case, confirming the identities of the three women.
'I am thankful that Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight have been found alive. We have many unanswered questions regarding this case and the investigation will be ongoing. Again, I am thankful that these three young ladies are found and alive,' he said.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2320519/Amanda-Berry-Gina-DeJesus-Two-girls-went-missing-teens-ALIVE-kept-basement-Ohio-house-DECADE.html#ixzz2SaBsxayK
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