CLEVELAND, three missing girls in the U.S. a decade ago has been found to be still alive, on Monday (05/06/2013). They were reportedly locked in the basement of a home in Cleveland, Ohio.
Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus reportedly had been found alive in a house in the 2200 block of Seymour Avenue near West 25th Street, Cleveland, with a third girl who identified as Michelle Knight. A 52-year-old man named Ariel Castro has been arrested and is now in police custody related to the case, according to CNN and MailOnline.
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| Amanda Berry (center) smiles in Hospitals of Cleveland. He returned to meet his brother (left). A little boy (right) is believed to be one of those who fled the house with Berry Ariel Castro |
Berry went missing in 2003, a day before the birthday-17, and a year later 14-year-old DeJesus was also missing. Michelle Knight lost in 2000 when he was 20 years old.
Berry disappeared shortly after she called her brother to tell him that she got a ride home from his job at Burger King. DeJesus disappeared on her way home from school.
"I am thankful that Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight has been found to be still alive," said Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson. "We have a lot of unanswered questions related to this case and the investigation will soon be underway. Again, I am very thankful that the three young girls were found and still alive."
They were discovered when a neighbor saw a woman, later identified as Amanda, screaming from inside a house in West Cleveland. "I heard screaming, I was eating McDonalds. I came out and I saw the girl was trying to get out of the house and I went to the terrace. Da saying 'Please remove me! I've been here a very long time'," said a neighbor who identified only as Charles told a local TV network, News Net 5.
"I think it's a problem of domestic violence. He came out with a little girl and said, 'Call 911, my name is Amanda Berry'," said Charles
After menepon 911, the police arrived. Amanda then told the police that "I am not the only one, there are a few other girls in the house."
The girl was then taken to MetroHealth Medical Center because they were reported to have suffered severe dehydration and malnutrition bit, but still alive.
Charles said he was shocked by the discovery because the person who got the house, the alleged kidnapper, not hiding from the people around him. "I've been here a year.'s I barbeque with him, we ate ribs and listening to salsa music. Nobody knew she was there in the house or there are other people in there," Charles said about Castro. "We see these people every day," he told NewsNet5.
According to the CNN report, Castro worked as a bus driver for the Cleveland Metropolitan schools.
Cleveland residents gathered at the police station and cheered when a patrol car back to the police station on Monday night, and the same crowd gathered outside the hospital.