Wow. Three women, missing for a decade, found alive

[warrior1]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/three-women-missing-decade-found-alive-234338530.html

Three women, two of them missing for a decade since they were teens in Cleveland, have been found alive, according to police.A 52-year-old man has been arrested, police say. The women were being treated at the hospital. One of the women reportedly had a baby since she came up missing, according to reports.

One of the women, Amanda Berry, was last heard from in 2003, when she called her sister to say she was getting a ride home from the Burger King restaurant where she worked, reported the Cleveland TV station WEWS. She was to turn 17 the day after she disappeared.

The other woman, Gina DeJesus, was 14 when she went missing on April 2, 2004. She was walking home from school.

The third woman, Michelle Knight, 32, was missing since she was 20.


snip

[Marrah_G]

1. omg

[tammywammy]

2. Holy crap!

Wow. That's such good news...being found alive. Those poor women.

[warrior1]

3. watch the video of the rescuer

[maxsolomon]

6. good guy: funny, articulate, compassionate.

the kidnapper? life with no possibility of parole is too good.

[freshwest]

13. All of that. I love the rescuer. If there's a reward, I hope he gets it. Great day for those kids.

[WCGreen]

17. That's a very integrated neighborhood...

Still, his remark about a pretty white girl running toward an old black man was funny..

[politicat]

29. I thought it was a very painful remark.

Sad that it's too often true.

And Mr. Ramsey, this little white woman would run to hug you for your generosity of spirit and courage in helping those women. Too many others would have (and probably have) turned a blind eye.

[WCGreen]

31. I think he was jabbin' at his neighbors.

They all were laughing.

[JI7]

19. kind of like that homeless surfer guy and antoine dodson

[sofa king]

47. That was the best interview I've seen in years.

That dude is suddenly one of my favorite people.

[maxsolomon]

72. Watch the "Kai" interview

homeless surfer kid, fended off an ax attack - also has the gift of gab

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Video of the rescuer's comments is at the link.

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/Cleveland-police-dispatch-Missing-teens-Amanda-Berry-and-Gina-DeJesus-found-alive

[Historic NY]

49. Good guy, made me laugh...with his animations.

[Cha]

58. Thanks BB.. tears of

joy now.

[Baitball Blogger]

63. It's a good day.

[newfie11]

5. Yes watching the video is a must. Nt

[corkhead]

7. Someone should tell the woman who had the kid that a lot has happened since she disappeared.

The lunatics have taken over the asylum while she was gone and therefore she should rejoice and be thankful for god's gift of lemonade.

[freshwest]

11. Hey, Bush is gone. And what lemonade? A baby by rape? I'm not getting where you're coming from here.

[corkhead]

16. sorry, a little ham-handed sarcasm...

http://www.indecisionforever.com/blog/2012/01/25/rick-santorum-tells-rape-victims-to-make-lemons-out-of-lemonade

[freshwest]

42. Blech! How could I have forgotten that... Well, I wanted to, is the answer to that!

And the lunatics are at the gates trying to take over the asylum.

Well, in some states they have taken over.

They may have missed Palin and Romney - that would be good!

[maxsolomon]

8. there's a woman sitting on the porch in the google street view.

2210 Seymour Ave., according the articles. the house is so tiny and close to it's neighbors it seems impossible 3 women could have been imprisoned there for 10 years.

when the story comes out, it's going to be horrific, and filled with missed opportunities.

may these women find peace and happiness.

[BainsBane]

9. One of those guys who keeps girls locked in his basement?

[maxsolomon]

15. I dont' understand your comment

but i think i agree.

[BainsBane]

20. I'm asking if that's what this is

Periodically you hear about some woman who has been in captivity since she was a young girl, and some guy had her locked in a cellar. Is this one of those cases?

[maxsolomon]

22. Hell yes it's one of those cases.

3 women.

[warrior1]

21. It's 2207

across the street

[maxsolomon]

23. That makes more sense

Bigger house, backyard, parking lots behind, abandoned house next door.

maybe the rescuer is at 2210.

[Renew Deal]

30. And a basement

[JustAnotherGen]

78. That picture is from 2009

But we did a little research at work today - the house where those three women were held is in foreclosure for not paying taxes for three years . . . 2010, 2011, 2012 - and will owe for 2013.

[freshwest]

10. I love the guy in the video! He is cool. I'd have run into his arms too!

[BainsBane]

25. "How did you know something was wrong?"

He says: "I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man's arms. Something is wrong here. Dead give away."

[Spitfire of ATJ]

37. Humans are funny that way.

[Dorian Gray]

68. Love him

[Scuba]

12. Watch the video.

[WCGreen]

14. Crazy shit in C-Town....

[leftyohiolib]

26. cleveland is c-town ( the c stands for crazy)

[Locut0s]

18. I hope this doesn't turn out to be one of those stories of...

A guy who imprisons girls in his basement in cages. Not that brain washing and living with them after abduction is good but those stories of women locked up in the basement for years.

[sheshe2]

24. OMG!

Thank god it's over for them now. I hope they can heal in the arms of their families.

Good on the man that rescued them. I love that man!

[Poll_Blind]

27. The end of the interview with the rescuer, especially last 30 seconds.....PRICELESS!

PB

[Renew Deal]

28. I agree

"You know something is wrong when a little pretty white girl runs into a black mans arms."

[reformist2]

33. I actually thought it was a little sad that he said that.

[Renew Deal]

34. I think it depends on how you look at things

If you look at it as an accurate state of race relations, then it is sad. If you look at it with Chris Rock's sense of humor and ability to deliver a line, it's funny.

[Poll_Blind]

44. I didn't mean to make sport of him. It was both funny and a reminder just...

...exactly what the situation on the street, the real street, is. I look at it this way: Here's this man and he just essentially rescued three women. And he's being honest as he recounts his tale. And the standpoint he tells it from reminds everyone just how unequal things are and at first, the absurdity of the reality of his viewpoint strikes one as funny.

And then the reality sets in and there's at least a twinge of uncomfortableness, a reminder of where things really are in this country.

Now, as a person who is fond of humor and communication, and the mechanics of both, the anecdote he told was one of the most difficult kinds of socio-political editorials to craft and slip somebody, like a little time bomb, without them catching on. The reality of it "explodes" in their head, right after they laugh.

I just finished jogging so my brain is mush but I hope that makes sense.

PB

[Arctic Dave]

39. Not to make light of a serious situation, but yeah, that was hilarious,

Indeed.

Glad to see they are alive and they will get some help they no doubt need.

[tblue]

32. 2004, famed psychic told mom Amanda is dead

on the Montel Williams Show.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=26501

Maybe it gave the family a much-needed sense of closure, but Sylvia Browne, I would LOVE to hear you eat your words on TV. What you got to say now, hanh? Charlatan!

[longship]

38. Sylvia Browne!!! She's a horrible person.

And Montel Williams is a utter douche bag for enabling her fraudulent bullshit for years.

Google Sylvia Browne and see what I mean.

Here is a link to something which will show the utter heartlessness of that hag, Sylvia Browne.
http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_shawnhornbeck2.shtml

[Archae]

46. That's twice in a row Sylvia Browne has called a missing person dead...

And they are very much alive.

Browne charges money for her "readings."

She should be charged with fraud.

[Turborama]

40. You're too generous. It likely contributed to her cause of death.

Amanada's mom died in 2006 of a broken heart.

The case was featured on “American’s Most Wanted.” Louwana Miller appeared on Montel Williams’ nationally-syndicated talk show in November 2004. On the show, a psychic told Miller that Amanda was probably dead.

“I still don’t want to believe it,” Louwana Miller said in an interview after the show. “I want to have hope but . . . what else is there?”

Activist Art McKoy befriended Louwana Miller during her ordeal. He said he could tell that the stress and heartache were wearing her down. The visit with the psychic was the breaking point, he said.

“From that point, Ms. Miller was never the same,” McKoy said. “I think she had given up.”

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/05/amanda_berrys_mother_louwana_m.html

[Marrah_G]

59. Oh now that is heart-breaking

It's pretty hard to wrap my mind around that sort of grief and loss.

[get the red out]

77. She was only 44

Now that poor girl has to mourn her mother.

Horrific. I wish those bastards could be tried for Louwana Miller's murder, because they certainly brought her death by taking her daughter.

I hope those monsters rot in prison and are miserable for the rest of their sickening lives.

[rainbow4321]

35. Piers Morgan: "there's the house...with the American flag"

Um, that's a CUBAN flag, guy, not an American flag.

He was saying it when they showed video of the house where the women were found.



And I know that legally the hospital cannot give out any healthcare info, but the ER doc "press conf" was not really worth him going on camera: "again I can't go into any more details". Coulda replaced that who air time with a piece of paper, one sentence.

[Catherine Vincent]

65. I was saying the same thing

It didn't look like an American flag to me.

[Crabby Appleton]

66. It's the Puerto Rican flag

Cuban flag has blue and white stripes.

[warrior1]

36. I

[Tom Ripley]

41. This is creepy: A 2004 news story written by the suspect...

Gina DeJesus’ disappearance has changed her neighborhood
by Ariel Castro

(Plain Press, June 2004) Since April 2, 2004 , the day 14-year-old Gina DeJesus was last seen on her way home from Wilbur Wright Middle School , neighborhood residents have been taken by an overwhelming need for caution. Parents are more strictly enforcing curfews, encouraging their children to walk in groups, or driving them to and from school when they had previously walked alone.

“You can tell the difference,” DeJesus’ mother, Nancy Ruiz said. “People are watching out for each other’s kids. It’s a shame that a tragedy had to happen for me to really know my neighbors. Bless their hearts, they’ve been great.”

On Cleveland ’s west side, it is difficult to go any length of time without seeing Gina’s picture on telephone poles, in windows, or on cars along the busy streets.

“People are really looking out for my daughter,” Ruiz said.

For seven weeks, Gina’s family has been organizing searches, holding prayer vigils, posting fliers and calling press conferences. Despite the many tips and rumors that have been circulating in the neighborhood, there has been no sign of her.

One thing is for certain, however. Almost everyone feels a connection with the family, and Gina’s disappearance has the whole area talking.

“It’s traumatized a lot of people,” Bob Zak, Safety Coordinator of the Westown Community Development Corporation, said. “People are suspicious of everyone. Kids, parents, and grandparents are afraid.”

The organization serves Cleveland ’s Ward 19, which stretches from West Boulevard to West 134th Street .

Parents and relatives waiting for their children as school let out at Wilbur Wright recently expressed concern about the number of sex offenders living and working in the area.

“I really believe there needs to be more security,” Vaneetha Smith said as she waited for her niece outside Wilbur Wright Middle School at the end of the day. “We have too many kidnappings, and they should crack down on all the sex offenders in the area.”

Luis Perez echoed Smith’s concerns as he waited for his niece at the school.

“I think the neighborhood is pretty bad,” he said. “You have to be aware of some people out there.”

The Ohio Electronic Sex Offender Registration and Notification (eSORN) database lists 133 sex offenders living or working in Gina’s immediate zip code. Many residents of the area, however, cannot use the database, as they do not have access to the Internet at home.

“I have been here almost four years and I have been notified of only one sex offender,” Ruiz said. “And he lives only about 1,000 feet away from here.”

Ohio law prohibits sex offenders who are required to register from establishing their residence within 1,000 feet of school buildings.

“There is no enforcing the laws because they still live right next to the schools and the bus stops,” Ruiz said. She believes the process of registering sex offenders is essentially a waste of time.

At a Ward 19 crime watch meeting, one of ten monthly, residents describe the area as a multi-ethnic community where people work and try to keep their housing up to par. They feel the disappearance of Amanda Berry on April 21, 2003 was a wake-up call, but Gina’s case really caught everyone’s attention.

Many residents believe the schools and the city have more work to do to help out.

“There is not enough supervision at the schools and when the kids get out, they still run through the streets,” Smith said. “They say that once they leave the school premises, the school is not responsible for them. But until they reach their house, I believe they are. They should be more concerned with their safety.”

“The school is supposed to be a safe place,” Perez said. “They need more police around the schools, surrounding the area. Without that, it’s just going to keep on going and there will be more innocent people getting hurt.”

Isaac Rodriguez has seen some changes happen at Wilbur Wright.

“There are more security guards at the school now,” the father of two middle school students said. “They have been having assemblies and talking to the kids about the danger.”

“When you send your kids out to school now”, Smith said, “you don’t know if they are going to make it home or not. From West 105th to [West 110th], anything could happen. I feel the mayor should do something about that. The children should be our first priority, no matter what else is going on in the city.”

Zak, a former Cleveland police officer of 30 years, believes the community is feeling the effects of the city’s cuts in the police force.

“The first thing a city should do is protect its citizens,” he said. Although police cannot be on the scene of every crime as they occur, Zak reports that residents are getting responses to calls “one, two, and four hours later.”

Cuts in the police force are not the only budget changes that are directly affecting residents. The Cleveland Municipal School District is also mulling how it will eliminate its projected $100 million budget deficit. Among the items cut will be purchased services, employee overtime, supplemental pay, textbooks, school staff and student transportation.

[warrior1]

48. just reading

it's was his son that wrote the article.

https://twitter.com/SaraShookman

[Tom Ripley]

53. Thanks for the clarification!

[Samantha]

43. This story is coming up on Lawrence O'Donnell's show

right now!

Sam

[Locut0s]

45. Damn starting to sound bad again...

Was hoping for the best case scenario of him having brainwashed these kids and living with them. I know that sounds far fetched but there have been cases. Not that that would have been good but I think it would have been the best case scenario. What I was worried about was the possibility of him keeping them in cages and what not that you hear some of these monsters doing.

They just said that he often had his own daughter and grandson over to the house. Unless they were in on it which doesn't sound likely, its starting to sound like the basement prison / cage scenario may be more likely.

[rainbow4321]

50. Apparently the guy's 2 brothers were arrested tonight, also

Per Twitter...so I take it they knew about the women being held in the house?

[Locut0s]

51. I guess we'll see. Yeah that raises some very disturbing possibilities :(

[FedUpWithIt All]

54. The brother of Dejesus may have even been to that house.

According to a blog i read tonight, he believed the kidnapper to be a friend.

Just crazy. So glad these women and their children are safe.

http://amymihaljevic.blogspot.com/

[hunter]

64. OMG. I got the infamous "Model Quality Thai Girls" ad on that blog.

One of the most inappropriate ad placements I've ever seen.

[Kablooie]

52. There's a house on Seymour St. with all the windows boarded up

and private property signs on the fence.
I wonder if this is where he kept them.

2215 Seymour ave, Cleveland in Google Streetview.

[maxsolomon]

73. Next door, 2207, with the Cuban Flag on the porch

The abandoned house next door probably helped make it possible.

[justiceischeap]

79. Puerto Rican flag

Has red stripes


Cuban flag has blue stripes


Screenshot of Street view 2207 Seymour Ave.

[maxsolomon]

80. I learn something every day!

I didn't know Cuba was the opposite of PR!

[BobTheSubgenius]

55. I read a news story several years ago that was not unlike this one.`

This guy in Philadelphia had several women handcuffed to radiators and similar fixtures in his basement. His explanation to police was that they were there when he moved in.

[MadrasT]

67. It was one woman and three men that were imprisoned in Philadelphia.

They were being held so their captors steal their Social Security checks.

Landlord finds mentally disabled people locked in basement

Sick bastards were treating them like animals.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

56. Can you imagine what the girls and their families have been going through?

It is horrible when people go missing especially children. A young woman disappeared from our area a few years ago she was on her way to the store. I hope that she didn't meet a similar fate.

[blackspade]

57. Horrible!

Glad they were found.

[JI7]

60. what are the chances there are other people like these girls/women and Jaycee Dugard

right now being held prisoner by someone ?

[colsohlibgal]

61. Great News, Surprising News In A Horrible Situation

Bless the man who answered the call for help, who stepped up to the plate to be a real hero. I'm so thrilled these ladies are alive, it usually doesn't end up this way in these situations.

May these women find some peace and happiness in the years ahead. The men who carried out this - they will go away to the big house and I wouldn't bet on their longevity there, prisoner's code of conduct is not kind to child rapists. What scum, all three of them.

[Sissyk]

62. This is amazing!

Hope for healing for these three young women and the child.

[warrior1]

69. I still

can't believe they were all held together. What kind of sick mind does this.

[Blue_Tires]

70. So all this time they were held in the very same neighborhood they vanished from?

[Quantess]

71. This is international news. (no text)

[duffyduff]

74. Apparently three brothers named Castro were involved. n/t

[azmom]

75. Did you hear his the hero's

911 call. Priceless.
http://media.cleveland.com/pdextra/audio/amanda-berry-911-call-2.mp3

[get the red out]

76. I can't help but wonder

If there are other people out there, whose childhood visages are on milk cartons, living as sex slaves just out of sight of normal, everyday, society?