Cleveland house of horrors suspect Ariel Castro charged with kidnap and rape

The prime suspect in the kidnapping of the three women 10 years ago in Cleveland was charged last night with four counts of kidnapping and three of rape.

Ariel Castro (52), the owner of the property where the captives were held, was indicted after a judge gave police extra time to question him and his brothers, Pedro and Onil.

A search of 2207 Seymour Avenue where the women were held captive revealed no human remains, but Cleveland police chief Michael McGrath said pieces of rope and chain were retrieved from the property, indicating that Amanda Berry and the two other victims, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, had been restrained.

As Ms Berry and Ms DeJesus returned home, Ms Knight remained in seclusion.

A motorcade brought Ms Berry, who was 16 when she vanished and is now 27, to the back door of her sister's house in Cleveland at noon yesterday. With her for the homecoming was Amanda's six-year-old daughter, Jocelyn, who was born in captivity.

Balloons decorated the front porch, creating a fiesta-like atmosphere. "Welcome Home Amanda," a banner read. A crowd of reporters stood in the street outside hoping to catch their first sight of Ms Berry and hear her speak. Instead, it was her sister, Beth Serrano, who emerged to make a brief statement to express thanks for the community's support and ask for privacy.

Amanda's father, John Berry, told reporters that he had briefly spoken to his daughter on Tuesday. "I didn't think she was dead. No, never," he said. "Keep hope. Keep hope. Don't give up till you know because I never gave up."

Mr Berry said he believed Amanda's "rough and tough" personality kept her alive during her ordeal.

"There's no way to explain. It's the best thing that ever happened to me. Best feeling I ever had," he said of his daughter's release.

Earlier in the day, Amanda had spoken to her grandmother for the first time since she vanished in 2003. "I'm glad to have you back," Fern Gentry mumbled from her home in Elizabethton, Tennessee, fighting back the tears.

Gina DeJesus also returned to the family home she had not seen for nine years yesterday.

The 23-year-old, who hid her face in a yellow hoodie, was seen rushing into the house and tightly embracing her sister Mayra.

And for a brief moment she acknowledged the crowds gathered outside chanting "Gina, Gina" by raising her hand in a thumbs-up sign.

While the embrace of family may help Ms Berry and Gina DeJesus, who disappeared near their homes in Cleveland in 2003 and 2004, a colder world may greet the third woman, Michelle Knight.

When she went missing in 2002, most of her family thought she had run away. Reports suggest she is now suffering from impaired hearing and has damage to her facial bones as a result of the beatings she received at No 2207.

Her mother, Barbara Knight, flew from her home in Naples, Florida, to Ohio in the hope of reuniting with her daughter, but Michelle was said to be resistant to any meeting.

The dramatic phone call

Amanda Berry: Help me, I'm Amanda Berry.

Operator: Do you need police, fire or ambulance?

Berry: I need police.

Operator: Ok, and what's going on there?

Berry: I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years. And I'm here. I'm free now.

Operator: Ok, and what's your address?

(The operator tries to figure out where she is.)

Berry: I'm across the street. I'm using their phone.

Operator: Ok, stay there with those neighbours and talk to the police when they get there.

(The operator repeats her instructions several times.)

Berry: Ok, are they on their |way right now? I need them now.

Operator: We're gonna send them as soon as we get a car open.

Berry: No, I need them now before he gets back.

Operator: All right. We're sending them, Ok?

Berry: Ok. I mean, like, right now.

Operator: Who is the guy who went out?

Berry: His name is Ariel Castro.

Operator: All right. How old is he?

Berry: He's like 52.

Operator: All right, and a...

Berry: And I'm Amanda Berry. I've been on the news for the last 10 years.

Operator: Ok, I got that, dear... what is his name again?

Berry: Uh, Ariel Castro.

Operator: And is he white, black or Hispanic?

Berry: Uh, he's Hispanic.

Operator: What's he wearing?

Berry: I don't know cause he's not here right now. That's how we got away.

Operator: When he left, what was he wearing?

Berry: (Indistinguishable)

Operator: The police are on the way. Talk to them when they get there.

Berry: Ok.

 

The missing teenagers and the agony of their families

Amanda Berry

Amanda went missing on April 21 2003, the day before her 17th birthday. She had just finished work at Burger King and called to say that she was getting a lift home. She never returned. The search was too much for her mother, Louwana Miller, to bear, and she died from heart failure aged 44 in April 2006. Last summer her surviving family thought they had a breakthrough in the case when a 26-year-old, Robert Wolford, claimed she was buried in a vacant lot in the city. Wolford was jailed for four-and-a-half years for obstruction of justice, making a false report and raising a false alarm.

Michelle Knight

Michelle Knight was between 18 and 20 when she vanished, but her case did not receive the same attention. Her grandmother told the cleveland.com website last night that she thought Michelle left of her own free will after her son was taken from her custody. Michelle's mother reported seeing her with a man at a Cleveland mall.

Georgina DeJesus

Gina DeJesus (14), was last seen near a payphone on her way home from school in April 2004. She was with a classmate at the time; her mother had just refused to let Gina stay over at her friend's house even though it was a Friday. In 2006 police received a tip-off that she had been buried under a garage, but no body was found. Her family refused to accept her death, and yesterday her cousin, Sylvia Colon, told the BBC: “Gina's mother... led the crusade. She knew her daughter was alive. She felt it. Gina was very close to her parents. Every year there was a vigil — we were living in hope she would come home, and she did.”