THIS DAY IN HISTORY

[IceWizard]

Ohio kidnap victims rescued
after years in captivity






2013
May 06



On May 6, 2013, three women are rescued from a Cleveland, Ohio, house where they had
been imprisoned for many years by their abductor, 52-year-old Ariel Castro, an unemployed
bus driver. The women—Michelle Knight, Amada Berry and Gina DeJesus—went missing
separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 21, 16 and 14 years old, respectively.
Also rescued from the house was a 6-year-old girl born to Berry while she was being held
captive and fathered by Castro.

Castro abducted each of the women, who had been acquaintances of his children, by giving
them a ride in his car then luring them into his home in a working-class Cleveland neighborhood,
where they were tortured and kept locked up. During their years in captivity, the women were
beaten, sexually assaulted, restrained by chains and starved. Knight told authorities she became
pregnant by Castro five times and each time he punched and kicked her to force a miscarriage.
Additionally, Castro ordered Knight to help deliver Berry’s baby, threatening to kill Knight if
anything went wrong. In all the years they were held hostage, the women were allowed into
the backyard of Castro’s dilapidated, two-story house just a few times, and only when disguised
in wigs and sunglasses.

Meanwhile, Castro led a double life: driving a school bus, chatting with neighbors, playing bass
in local bands and posting to his Facebook page. That came to an end on the evening of
May 6, 2013, when Berry stood at the front door of Castro’s house after he’d gone out, and
screamed for help. In response, neighbors kicked in the door and Berry escaped with her daughter
then called 911. When police arrived at the house, they rescued Knight and DeJesus. Castro
was arrested in the area that same night.

On July 26, 2013, in a deal that allowed Castro to avoid a possible death sentence, he pleaded
guilty to more than 900 charges against him, including kidnapping, rape and aggravated murder
(for causing Knight to miscarry). On August 1, a judge sentenced him to life in prison without the
possibility of parole, plus 1,000 years. A month later, on September 3, Castro was found dead in
his prison cell after hanging himself with a sheet.









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