Three Missing US Women Found by Neighbor

Three young US women who went missing around a decade ago -- two of whom disappeared as teenagers -- were found alive Monday in a house in Cleveland, as police arrested three suspects in the case.

Published

10 months ago

Categories

US

Topics

United States

People

Ariel Castro, Amanda Berry, Gina De Jesus, Michele Knight, Charles Ramsey

Places

United States of America, Ohio, Cleveland

Transcript

SHOTLIST: CLEVELAND, OHIO, MAY 6, 2013, SOURCE: CBS RESTRICTIONS: NO RESALE for non-editorial purposes No Japan No Free over the air broadcasters in Australia No US cable news outlets, free over the air networks or stations, their websites and their mobile phone services -VAR of the house where the women were found SOUNDBITE 1 Charles Ramsey (man) Neighbour who found Amanda Berry (English, 15 sec): "She was in the door and she said 'help me get out', so I'm looking at her and I'm like, you know, 'what's wrong with you?' She says 'we've been in here for a long time', so I prised the door, and one of my friends helped, she held it, she kicked the bottom of the door, when she came out I didn't know who she was, she said her last name was Berry. -VAR of the house where the women were found SOUNDBITE 2 Charles Ramsey (man) Neighbour who found Amanda Berry (English, 4 sec): "I said bro, this woman just came out of the house, and says she's Amanda Berry, send the police" - 911 phone call from Charles Ramsey, who helps to rescue the women SOUNDBITE 3 Emergency 911 call audio recording (English): Caller : ‘Yeah, bro, I’m at 2207 Seymour, West 25th. Hey check this out, I just came from McDonald’s, right? I’m on my porch eating my little food right? This broad, is trying to break out of the house next door to me, so, there is a bunch of people on the street right now. - FILE: Still photo FBI handout of Amanda Berry - Still photo handout of Amanda Berry with sister and child (centre) SOUNDBITE 4 Emergency 911 call audio recording (English): She said her name was Amanda Berry.” I don’t know who the (expletive) is. I just moved over here bro. You know what I mean." O: "Sir, sir, sir… you have to calm down and slow down.” C: “Seymour Avenue.” O: “Is she still on the street, or where did she go?” C: “I am looking at her, she.. right now, she’s calling you all, she’s on another phone.” O: “Is she white, black or Hispanic?” C: “She white, but the baby looks Hispanic.” O: ‘What is she wearing?” C: “White tank top, light blue sweat pants, Like a wife beater. O: “Do you know the address next door? That she says she was in?” C: “Yeah, 2207, I’m looking at it.” O: “Okay, I thought that was your address?...” C: “No, I’m smarter than that, bro, I’m telling you where the crime was.” O: “Sir, we can’t talk at the same time. Do you want to leave your name and number?” C: “Charles Ramsey (spells it out).” O: “Are the people she said that did this, do you know are they still in the house?” C: I don’t have a (expletive) clue bro, I just got back from McDonalds.” O: “Can you ask her is she needs an ambulance?” C: (asking, “Do you need an ambulance or what?”) She needs everything, but she’s in a panic, bro, I guess she has been kidnapped so put yourself in her shoes…” O: “We’ll send the police. Thank you.” - Still photo handouts of Charles Ramsey, who helped rescue the women -VAR of the neighborhoud SOUNDBITE 5 Efrain Cruz, Amanda Berry's Uncle (English, 10 sec): "It's been a lot of years that we haven't heard from her, seen her, and a place like this you know, real close from all the families alright, this is where she got found at." -VAR of the police SOUNDBITE 6 Woman, Inhabitant of the area (English, 12 sec): "I can't even imagine what they've gone through, but everything's gonna be good now, everything's gonna be good now for them, their families, the babies that came out of there, and for everybody, Cleveland is great, God is good." -VAR of people celebrating /// -------------------------------------------------- AFP TEXT STORIES: US-crime-kidnap,3rdlead Three women missing for decade found alive in US by Mira Oberman =(PICTURE+VIDEO)= CHICAGO, May 7, 2013 (AFP) - Three young US women who went missing around a decade ago -- two of whom disappeared as teenagers -- were found alive Monday in a house in Cleveland, as police arrested three suspects in the case. The dramatic discovery -- just a few miles from where the women went missing -- ended years of anguished searching by their families and drew hundreds of cheering people to the usually quiet, residential street in the state of Ohio. 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. Police said they have arrested three Hispanic men in their 50s in connection to the case but declined to provide further details. A press conference is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 9:00 am (1300 GMT). The long nightmare ended when Amanda Berry -- who had been kidnapped 10 years ago at the age of 16 -- reached her arm through a crack in the front door and called for help. "I heard screaming... And I see this girl going nuts trying to get outside of the house," Charles Ramsey, told the local ABC news affiliate. "I go on the porch, and she said 'Help me get out. I've been here a long time.'" Ramsey, a bystander now hailed as a hero, 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," a frantic Berry says in the recording of her call to 911. When police arrived, she said two other women were being held captive. She told the dispatcher that the man who had held her was named Ariel Castro. Media reports identified the three suspects as Castro and his two brothers, but police provided no confirmation. "All three women, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight, seem to be in good health," Cleveland police said in a statement. Berry was last seen on April 21, 2003 when she left work at a fast food restaurant just a few blocks from her home around 7:40 pm. Her mother, Louwanna Miller, died of a "broken heart" in March 2006, Dona Brady, a family friend, told CNN. DeJesus was 14 when she vanished while walking home from school on April 2, 2004. Knight, who was 21 at the time of her disappearance, was last seen at a cousin's house on August 23, 2002, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Kayla Rogers, 23, went to school with DeJesus and joined the crowd gathered near the house where her friend had been held captive. "They don't find people who go missing, you know," Rogers, 23, told the Plain Dealer. "I'm at a loss for words." Neighbor Charlie Czorb said he was stunned by how long the women had lived at the house undetected, saying: "These girls were locked up in our own backyard." Castro was described by neighbors as a friendly school bus driver and musician whose daughter would often come over with his grandchildren. Ramsay, the man who helped Berry escape, also expressed shock, telling reporters he had eaten ribs and listened to Salsa music with Castro. Tasheena Mitchell, 26, said she didn't believe her brother at first when he called to tell her that their cousin Amanda had been found alive and said she raced to the hospital to confirm it with her own eyes. "She was my best friend," Mitchell told the Plain Dealer. A friend interrupted her, "She's alive. She is your best friend." An emergency room doctor who treated the three women said they were in fair condition and were being evaluated. "This isn't the ending we usually hear to these stories so we're very happy for them," the doctor, Gerald Maloney, told reporters. While much is not yet known about the case, it immediately recalled some of the most notorious child kidnappings. Jaycee Lee Dugard turned up 18 years after she was kidnapped at the age of 11 in the US state of California. She had been kept in a hidden backyard behind the house of her captor, Phillip Garrido, and had two children with him. Elizabeth Smart was 14 when she was taken from the bedroom of her home in June 2002 and repeatedly raped by a self-styled prophet during nine months of captivity. Smart was rescued in March 2003 less than 20 miles (30 kilometers) from her home. Her abductor, Brian David Mitchell, was jailed for life in 2011. Austrian Natascha Kampusch was kidnapped at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil, who held her captive in a cellar for eight years before she managed to escape in 2006. He threw himself under a train the night she got away.