Monday, May 6, 2013

Three women, missing for a decade, found alive in US

Three women who had been missing for a decade -- two of whom disappeared as teenagers -- were found alive in a house in Cleveland, police in the US state of Ohio said.

The dramatic discovery drew hundreds of cheering people to the usually quiet, residential street to celebrate that girls long feared dead were very much alive.

The details of the trauma they may have suffered in captivity were not yet known, but it appeared that at least one of the girls had borne a child during her captivity.

A neighbor spotted Amanda Berry screaming for help on Monday afternoon.

"I heard screaming... And I see this girl going nuts trying to get outside of the house," Charles Ramsey told the local ABC affiliate.

"I go on the porch, and she said 'Help me get out. I've been here a long time.'"

Ramsey said he tried to get her out through the door but could not pull it open, so he kicked out the bottom and she crawled through "carrying a little girl."

Berry went into a neighboring home and called police, begging them to come as soon as they could "before he gets back."
"I'm Amanda Berry. I've been kidnapped. I've been missing for 10 years. I'm free. I'm here now," Berry said, according to the recording of her frantic call to 911.

She told the dispatcher that the man who had held her captive was called Ariel Castro. When police arrived she told them there were two other captives in the home.

"All three women, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight, seem to be in good health," Cleveland police said in a statement.