A miracle in OHIO

[joninliverton]

Wow isn't this good news for a change - courtesy of bbc.

Three young women who vanished in separate incidents about a decade ago in the US state of Ohio have been found alive in a house in Cleveland.
Amanda Berry disappeared aged 16 in 2003, Gina DeJesus went missing aged 14 a year later, and Michelle Knight disappeared in 2002 aged around 19.
Their discovery followed a dramatic bid for freedom by Amanda Berry on Monday, helped by a neighbour.
Three brothers have been arrested in connection with the case.
City officials are to hold a news conference on Tuesday morning.

911 call: "Help me I'm Amanda Berry... I've been missing for 10 years"

Cleveland police said the suspects are Hispanic, aged 50, 52 and 54, and one of them had lived at the house on Seymour Avenue.
One was named as Ariel Castro, who has worked as a school bus driver.
Police have said a six-year-old was also found at the home. They have not revealed any further details, although a relative of Amanda Berry said she told him she had a daughter.
The women's families reacted with shock and delight at news of their discovery, and many people gathered outside the home where they had allegedly been imprisoned.
"It's been a whirlwind kind of day. It's surreal," said Gina DeJesus' relative, Sylvia Colon. She said the family had never given up hope, holding vigils every year and keeping memorials outside the house.
"We were living every day in the hope she would come home - and she did," she told the BBC.
Ms Colon said the women would now "need to be given some space. They have been away from us for a very long time."

 

[Buckeye1]

It's an almost unbelievable story. How these guys got away with it for 10 years without SOMEONE noticing something wrong is beyond my ability to understand.

Thank God the women and the little girl are now safe and back with their families. I don't ever underestimate the power of a mother's prayers for her children. Each of the mothers of these women has been given the GREATEST Mother's Day ever.

 

[joninliverton]

Each of the mothers of these women has been given the GREATEST Mother's Day ever.

Sadly that's not the case. One of the women's mother died a few years back, after years of searching for her daughter. What bothered me is that Seymour Street is pretty near the city centre.

 

[grace17]

Wonderful, wonderful news! The strength these three ladies found to survive for so many years under unimaginable circumstances just leaves me awe struck.

 

[joninliverton]

I'm quite amazed that only one American person has decided to comment on this "good news" event. There were similar no shows in the Texas factory tragedy too. There is a real world you know !!

 

[BSBPaul]

I hadnt heard about this at all until about 20 minutes ago. There is some crazy shit people are doing these days. It's sad, but it's hard to even go out in public withoutfeeling like you have to watch your back.

 

[rrhill]

Miracle?

A crime most most foul! And police errors...

Police Facing Questions In 3 Women's Ohio Rescue
May 07, 2013CLEVELAND (AP) — One neighbor says a naked woman was seen crawling on her hands and knees in the backyard of the house a few years ago. Another heard pounding on the home's doors and noticed plastic bags over the windows.
Both times, police showed up but never went inside, neighbors say. Police also paid a visit to the house in 2004, but no one answered the door.
Now, after three women who vanished a decade ago were found captive Monday at the run-down house, Cleveland police are facing questions for the second time in four years about their handling of missing-person cases and are conducting an internal review to see if they overlooked anything.
City Safety Director Martin Flask said Tuesday that investigators had no record of anyone calling about criminal activity at the house but were still checking police, fire and emergency databases.
read more: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=181821298

 

[joninliverton]

I hadnt heard about this at all until about 20 minutes ago. There is some crazy shit people are doing these days. It's sad, but it's hard to even go out in public withoutfeeling like you have to watch your back.

Wow well the news broke here yesterday morning uk time. Maybe the US News hasn't broadcast it yet lol

 

[joninliverton]

Well it may have been a miracle finding the girls but now the horrendous stories are revealed.

"The man accused of imprisoning three women for about a decade in the US city of Cleveland has made his first court appearance.Ariel Castro, 52, is charged with kidnap and rape. He did not enter a plea.
Bail was set at $8m (£5.1m), meaning in effect that he will remain in custody.
The women were abducted at different times and held in Mr Castro's house. One of those held, Amanda Berry, 27, escaped on Monday and raised the alarm.
The other women freed soon afterwards were Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32.
Suicide watchMr Castro, handcuffed and dressed in blue overalls, remained silent and looked down while lawyers spoke to the judge at Cleveland Municipal Court on Thursday.

Ariel Castro's daughter breaks down as she apologises to the victims

Mr Castro is charged with four counts of kidnapping, covering the three initial abduction victims and Jocelyn.
He also faces three counts of rape, one against each woman. More charges may be added, officials have said.
The police detained two of Mr Castro's brothers, Pedro and Onil, but later said they appeared to have no involvement in the crime.
They appeared in court alongside Ariel Castro on unrelated charges. Pedro Castro pleaded no contest to public drinking and was fined $100, while two charges against Onil Castro, including one related to drugs, were dropped.
Ariel Castro has been put on suicide watch and will be kept in isolation, his court-appointed lawyer Kathleen DeMetz told reporters.
The women were all abducted after accepting rides from Mr Castro, a police report leaked to the media said.
On Thursday, Mr Castro's daughter, Arlene, who was one of the last people to see Gina DeJesus before she disappeared, broke down in tears during a morning TV interview.
"I would like to say [to Ms DeJesus], I am so, so sorry," a tearful Ms Castro said. "I really want to see you and I want you to meet my kids. I'm so, so sorry."
'Wigs and hats'The women told officials they could only remember being outside twice during their time in captivity.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Charges against Ariel Castro[/h]

• Four counts of kidnapping - one for each woman and one for a six-year-old girl police say was born in captivity
• Three counts of rape, one for each woman, representing what police say is years of sexual abuse
• Bail is set at $8m (£5m), $2m for each alleged victim
• Charges may be added as the investigation proceeds

Cleveland City Councilman Brian Cummins said the women had told police they had only gone as far as a garage on the property, disguised in wigs and hats.
Mr Cummins, citing police information, said the victims had been kept apart inside the house until their captor felt he had enough control to allow them to mingle.
Ms Berry, whose disappearance in 2003 the day before her 17th birthday was widely publicised in the local media, escaped with her six-year-old daughter Jocelyn, who was born in captivity.
A source told the BBC that one of the women was forced to help Ms Berry deliver her daughter, and was threatened with death if the child did not survive.
Her baby was born in a plastic inflatable children's swimming pool on Christmas Day, 2006, according to a police report.
'Multiple miscarriages'Ms Berry was not the only woman who became pregnant during captivity, Mr Cummins said. One of the three women had suffered at least five miscarriages.
Mr Castro is accused of having intentionally caused the miscarriages by starving her for weeks and beating her in the abdomen, according to the city councilman.

Listen to the moment an officer radioed "we found them, we found them" from the house in Cleveland

Police said more than 200 pieces of evidence had been taken from the home where the three women were held captive.
They said interviews with the women had yielded enough information to charge Mr Castro.
Police said he had been co-operating with them, waiving his right to silence and agreeing to a test to establish Jocelyn's paternity.
Ms Knight remains in hospital, while the other two women have been reunited with their families. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports she had complained of chest pains during her rescue, but she is listed as in good condition.
On Wednesday hundreds of people gathered around the DeJesus family home, cheering as Gina DeJesus was brought from hospital.
Ms Berry and her daughter arrived at her sister's home a few hours earlier.
The women disappeared on the same Cleveland road separately between 2002 and 2004. At the time, they were 14, 16 and 20 years old".

 

[bobbity]

It's an almost unbelievable story. How these guys got away with it for 10 years without SOMEONE noticing something wrong is beyond my ability to understand.

Thank God the women and the little girl are now safe and back with their families. I don't ever underestimate the power of a mother's prayers for her children. Each of the mothers of these women has been given the GREATEST Mother's Day ever.

People did notice. Their children noticed the chains, and elaborate locks on the door. They noticed the plastic bags on the windows. They noticed they were restricted from going into certain parts of their father's home. They just didn't do anything about it. If they'd looked a little deeper into things, or questioned their father's odd behavior they could have saved those girls a lot earlier. However, they were comfortable lying to themselves, and attributed their father's behavior as a little "eccentric" and "paranoid". And these three women paid dearly for it.

And the neighbors didn't notice because a lot of the time, the girls were bound in chains or ropes. They were rarely ever allowed their freedom and as you guys read had only been allowed outside twice in the ten years they were held captive.

These guys are so sick and I hope our justice system just reams the hell out of them. What they did was so wrong, I have no words to describe how sad it all makes me. And it makes me wonder if there were any other victims besides these three.

 

[Buckeye1]

People did notice. Their children noticed the chains, and elaborate locks on the door. They noticed the plastic bags on the windows. They noticed they were restricted from going into certain parts of their father's home. They just didn't do anything about it. If they'd looked a little deeper into things, or questioned their father's odd behavior they could have saved those girls a lot earlier. However, they were comfortable lying to themselves, and attributed their father's behavior as a little "eccentric" and "paranoid". And these three women paid dearly for it.

And the neighbors didn't notice because a lot of the time, the girls were bound in chains or ropes. They were rarely ever allowed their freedom and as you guys read had only been allowed outside twice in the ten years they were held captive.

These guys are so sick and I hope our justice system just reams the hell out of them. What they did was so wrong, I have no words to describe how sad it all makes me. And it makes me wonder if there were any other victims besides these three.

I wrote that post before any details were known. Had I waited a day or two, I would have written it differently.

 

[rrhill]

It was one guy.

 

[BSBPaul]

Wow well the news broke here yesterday morning uk time. Maybe the US News hasn't broadcast it yet lol

Well, I also don't watch the news very much. These are the only things we see on the news these days and, quite frankly, I can care less to hear about it. These types of behaviors make put a bad taste in my mouth for the way humans treat each other. It's SICK!

 

[Ms. Kianna]

Well, I also don't watch the news very much. These are the only things we see on the news these days and, quite frankly, I can care less to hear about it. These types of behaviors make put a bad taste in my mouth for the way humans treat each other. It's SICK!

I have to agree. I watch the news every morning, and I deal with "real" life all day, that is why I read sci-fi and hang out on Broke Straight Boys.....To escape the terrible parts of "real" life for just a little while.

 

[BSBPaul]

People did notice. Their children noticed the chains, and elaborate locks on the door. They noticed the plastic bags on the windows. They noticed they were restricted from going into certain parts of their father's home. They just didn't do anything about it. If they'd looked a little deeper into things, or questioned their father's odd behavior they could have saved those girls a lot earlier. However, they were comfortable lying to themselves, and attributed their father's behavior as a little "eccentric" and "paranoid". And these three women paid dearly for it.

And the neighbors didn't notice because a lot of the time, the girls were bound in chains or ropes. They were rarely ever allowed their freedom and as you guys read had only been allowed outside twice in the ten years they were held captive.

These guys are so sick and I hope our justice system just reams the hell out of them. What they did was so wrong, I have no words to describe how sad it all makes me. And it makes me wonder if there were any other victims besides these three.

This is exactly what i was talking about in my last post. People make me sick how they hide things from people. OBVIOUSLY this isn't something a person is going to go around telling people, but how sick of a person must you be to be harboring information like that for all that time. He must be literally insane right now.

 

[BSBPaul]

I have to agree. I watch the news every morning, and I deal with "real" life all day, that is why I read sci-fi and hang out on Broke Straight Boys.....To escape the terrible parts of "real" life for just a little while.

And BOY does it ever help to just get away. Sometimes I think how amazing it'd be to live on my own island, with my own space, and no one else to bother me or hurt me. How nice it is to dream...

 

[BSBGraham]

When I found out about this I was like, "holy shit." They could have been dead and I watch this video on YouTube about it how the guy save them bless him. It's a real blessing to know they're okay now they can return home to their families.

 

[BSBGraham]

And BOY does it ever help to just get away. Sometimes I think how amazing it'd be to live on my own island, with my own space, and no one else to bother me or hurt me. How nice it is to dream...

Yeah, I can see that man. Do whatever the hell you wanna do without beig bothered, now that's paradise in the works.

 

[BSBGraham]

It was one guy.

Yeah, just one guy that no one ever expected it...at all! I guess people known him to be a good guy and that other neighbors invited him to some cookouts and stuff. Really does make me sick to think someone has a good "poker face" like that...blah

 

[BSBGraham]

It's an almost unbelievable story. How these guys got away with it for 10 years without SOMEONE noticing something wrong is beyond my ability to understand.

Thank God the women and the little girl are now safe and back with their families. I don't ever underestimate the power of a mother's prayers for her children. Each of the mothers of these women has been given the GREATEST Mother's Day ever.

I'd have to agree happy Mother's Day! Really is a blessing to know they have their loved ones back.