KIDNAPPING: Ariel Castro
Getting a ride from a familiar face is something we all do but for these three women, it would lead to a decade of captivity.
Ariel Castro was born in Duey, Puerto Rico to parents Pedro Castro and Lillian Rodriguez. Whilst he was still young, Ariel was moved along with his three siblings to Reading, Pennsylvania after his parents divorced. The entire family would finally settle in Cleveland, Ohio. By the time Ariel would graduate from Cleveland Lincoln West High School (1979) he would have a total of 9 siblings.
Ariel would meet his girlfriend, Grimilda Figueroa, when he moved in the 1980s to the house across the street from her. The couple would move out of their family homes in 1992, moving into 2207 Seymour Avenue, Termont house. The house had a 760-square-foot unfinished basement, four bedrooms and one bath.
Grimilda’s sister, Elida Caraballo, said that once the couple moved into the home “all hell started breaking loose.”. She claimed that Ariel would beat Grimilda, breaking her nose, ribs and arms, he had caused a blood clot on her brain that resulted in an inoperable tumour. He also threw her down a flight of stairs, cracking her skull. Ariel was arrested for domestic violence but wasn’t indicted by a grand jury.
In 1996, Grimilda would move out of 2207 Seymour Avenue, getting full custody of her four children. She had police assistance in the move, they detained Ariel but no charges were given.
Grimilda would file for charges in Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations court. She accused Ariel of inflicting multiple severe injuries on her and of frequently abducting their daughters. She was granted a temporary restraining order but it was dismissed just a few months later. Grimilda died in 2012 due to her brain tumours.
Ariel during this time was working with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District as a bus driver. He would be fired from his job for bad judgement some of the instances pointed out were making an illegal U-turn with kids on the bus and leaving a child on the bus while he went for lunch.
The first of Castro’s victims was Michelle Knight. Born 23 April 1981 in Cleveland Ohio to mother Barbara and an unknown father, she had twin younger brothers Eddie and Freddie and later would have a younger sister.
As a child, Michelle dreamed of being a firefighter but then later wanted to be a veterinarian. At some point, during her childhood, she was sexually abused by a male relative. She was bullied in high school for her height and at 17 she told her mother she was physically assaulted at school. She dropped out of school after finding out she was pregnant with her first son. The boy was a toddler when he was injured possibly by one of Barbara’s boyfriends. The boy was taken away and put into the care of the state for his safety.
On the morning of August 23 2002, Michelle left her cousin’s house heading to appear in court to fight for custody of her son. Castro pulled over and offered to give her a ride so that she would make it on time. Instead, he lured her into his home where she would be held hostage alone for 8 months.
The next of the victims was Amanda Berry. Born April 22 1986 in Cleveland Ohio to mother Louwana Miller and Johnny Berry. She worked at a local Burger King, and her mother reported her missing the same day she was taken because she didn’t return home from her shift.
Amanda called her sister at 8 pm on April 21 2003, she told her she had a ride home from work, which we now know was Castro. She was initially thought to be a runaway but a week later an unidentified male called Amanda’s mother from Amanda’s phone. “I have Amanda. She’s fine and will be coming home in a couple of days.”. It would be Michelle and Amanda held hostage together for the next year.
The final of the three victims was Gina DeJesus. Born April 1 1990 in Cleveland Ohio to mother Nancy Ruiz and father Felix DeJesus. She has a sister called Mayra and a brother called Ricardo. Gina would walk to and from her middle school forty blocks from her home.
Gina and her friend Arlene Castro, Ariel’s daughter, had just left school on April 2nd, 2004 at 3 pm. The two girls went to a pay phone, calling Grimilda to see if they could have a sleepover at Gina’s home. When Grimilda said no, the girls went their separate ways. Just as Castro had with his other victims, he pulled up and asked if Gina needed a ride before he lured her into his home.
In captivity the three women would keep diaries that would be later read in court, it is said the diaries spoke: “of forced sexual conduct, of being locked in a dark room, of anticipating the next session of abuse,of dreams of someday escaping and being reunited with family, of being chained to a wall, of being held like a prisoner of war, of missing the lives they once enjoyed, of emotional abuse, of his threats to kill, of being treated like an animal, of continuous abuse, and of desiring freedom.”
All three girls were locked in bedrooms and forced to use plastic toilets that were “emptied infreqently”. They were given a meal a day and allowed to shower twice a week.
Michelle would later tell the police that Castro had impregnated her a minimum of five times but each time he would induce miscarriages through beatings. He would hit her with dumbbells, punch her, slam her against walls and he would also starve her. She would also recall a time when she had a pet dog in captivity that Castro killed after he was bit by the dog that was trying to protect Michelle.
Michelle’s grandmother later told reporters that she required facial reconstruction surgery due to the beatings and that Michelle had lost hearing in one ear.
On Christmas of 2006, Castro made Michelle assist in Amanda’s birth. It took place in an inflatable swimming pool and Castro had threatened to kill Michelle if the baby died at birth. At one point the baby stopped breathing but Michelle managed to resuscitate her.
Gina told the police she didn’t believe that she had been impregnated but she had been raped.
Amanda would teach her daughter how to read and write with the other women helping her care for the girl. Castro would take her out of the house telling people that it was his daughter but other times he would call her his granddaughter.
On May 6th, 2013 Castro left the house for the day. Amanda would creep downstairs after realising that there had been no noise in the house. There she would find the “big inside door” had been left unlocked the outer door was bolted. She didn’t try opening or breaking the bolt as she was fearful that Castro was testing her.
The test she was fearful of was Castro would leave the doors unlocked and wait outside them, if the women would try to leave he would beat them.
Amanda started screaming when she spotted neighbours passing by through the screen on the door.
Angel Cordero was the first neighbour to respond to the screams but he was unable to respond to Amanda as he knew very little English. Charles Ramsey was the second neighbour to come over to the door. Together the pair would kick a hole in the bottom of the door to allow Amanda to carry free, carrying her daughter with her.
Ramsey helped Amanda call 9–1–1. “Help me. I’ve been kidnapped, and I’ve been missing for ten years. And I’m here. I’m free now.”
The police would enter the home and as they were searching upstairs, Michelle peeked out from around the bedroom door. Once she noticed that police the police were there she ran out, leaping into an officer’s arms crying that they “saved me.”.
Amanda and Gina were both released from the hospital the next day whereas Michelle had to stay in for four days.+
Castro was arrested the same day that the women escaped, charged with 4 kidnappings and 3 rapes. In court, he originally pled not guilty but changed it to guilty with a plea deal.
It was July 26 2013, when he pled guilty to 937 of 977 charges. Some of those charges were gross sexual imposition, felonious assault and child endangerment. Under the plea deal, Castro had multiple consecutive life sentences plus 1000 years without a chance of parole. He had forfeited the right to appeal, he could not profit from his crimes and he forfeited all assets. His house on 2207 Seymour Avenue was torn down.
The survivors of this case; Michelle now going by Lily Rose Lee is now an outspoken advocate for trauma relief. Amanda is trying to bring missing people home with Fox8. Gina has opened a Cleveland Family Center for Missing Children and Adults.
