Imagine being chained to the wall of a dirty room that wasn’t your own, being mentally tormented by a man who is widely considered to be a positive influence in the community. Imagine being impregnated by your captor, then giving birth in a kiddie-pool in the basement of the house that has become your worst nightmare. Three young women were held captive by Ariel Castro, a local school bus driver and band bassist, for over ten years.1
Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Georgina DeJesus were the three strong and inspiring young women that survived this nightmare. In Cleveland, Ohio, Ariel Castro captured his first victim, Michelle Knight, as she was walking home from her cousin’s home in 2002. He held her in his basement to torment and rape her, which allowed him to develop power over her. Castro then moved her upstairs in his home, where the abuses continued. Some of the early abuse that Knight endured ended in pregnancies, but Castro would beat her until she miscarried.2
The second victim, Amanda Berry, was last seen by her co-workers at Burger King the day before her seventeenth birthday in 2003. On her way home from work, she accepted a ride home from community member, Ariel Castro. However, the ultimate destination was not what she had expected. Within the time Castro held Berry captive, he impregnated her. She gave birth to her daughter, Jocelyn, in the basement of Castro’s home in a kiddie-pool with the assistance of Knight. Castro had threatened Michelle Knight’s life, insisting that if the baby didn’t survive, neither would she. So when Berry’s daughter wasn’t breathing at birth, Knight successfully performed CPR on the infant, saving her life.3
Georgina DeJesus was a friend of Castro’s daughter, a fact he used to lure her into his car. In 2004, DeJesus was walking home from school when Castro approached her and offered her a ride home. The fourteen-year-old girl recognized him and accepted the offer, little did she know that she wouldn’t be returning to her home for another nine years. The three women only had each other from 2002 until they were rescued in 2013.4
Each woman’s nightmare began similarly as Castro had a system of abuse that he used to overpower them. This system made them fear him so much that they wouldn’t fight back or attempt to escape. One of the tactics Castro used to prevent his victim’s from escaping was that he intentionally left their doors unlocked, and then he patiently waited by the front door for them. When Castro discovered that one of them trying to escape, he violently beat them, using it as an example to the other captives as to what would happen if they chose to flee.5
Castro successfully hid his monstrosities from the community he lived in for the eleven years he held the women captive. His friends and family noticed that he didn’t have people over often, but that wasn’t abnormal for Castro. After his wife divorced him, Castro spent most of his time outside of his home, attending local concerts with bands as the bassist, and even attending searches and vigils for the women he held captive in his own home. The community had no reason to suspect that he had anything to do with the women’s disappearances. Roughly two weeks before the rescue of the women, Castro had an individual over because he was interested in purchasing their bass guitar. The man said he had no idea that there was anyone in the home other than Castro, hearing only a sound like a dog upstairs.6
The community will never forget the day Castro made a simple mistake. On May 6, 2013, Castro left a door unlocked. The women upstairs, contemplating whether it was another one of Castro’s wicked tricks or an honest mistake, remained in their rooms. Eventually, however, Amanda Berry built up the courage to try to escape. When she discovered that it was a mistake on Castro’s end, she and her daughter headed for the door. It was the middle of the day when Berry had opened the front door and started yelling for help, her daughter at her side. Castro’s neighbors noticed the strange scene and immediately came to Berry’s aid.7
The screen door was locked from the outside so the neighbor’s kicked in a corner to free Berry and her daughter, Jocelyn. Berry then immediately called the police to get the other girls rescued from their real life nightmare. Upon the girls’ escape, the neighborhood was stunned. Throughout those eleven years, none of Castro’s surrounding neighbors had any indication or idea that three women were being held captive just a few yards away.8
Nobody knew what to think. The community felt like they had failed these three women. Ultimately, Ariel Castro plead guilty to 937 counts of kidnapping, rape, and aggravated assault. He was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years in prison without the possibility of parole. After a month in prison Castro hung himself with his bed sheets in his cell. While kidnapping is a horrific crime, it is not uncommon in the United States. In 1999, it was estimated that 11.4 children per 1,000 in the United States are reported missing. So, how well do you know your neighbors?9
- Phillip J. Resnick M.D. and George W. Schmedlen Ph.D., “Competency Report,” Court Psychiatric Clinic, (2013); 2-3. ↵
- Biography.com Editors, “Ariel Castro Biography”, The Biography.com Website, (2014) https://www.biography.com/people/ariel-castro-21311121. ↵
- Corky Siemaszko, “Michelle Knight still recovering five years after being freed from Ariel Castro,” ABC News, (2018), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michelle-knight-still-recovering-5-years-after-being-freed-ariel-n870906. ↵
- Melanie Eversley and Doug Stranglin, “Autopsy: Ariel Castro hanged himself in prison cell,” USA Today, (2013), https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/04/ariel-castro-hung-prison/2761177/. ↵
- Biography.com Editors, “Ariel Castro Biography”, The Biography.com Website, (2014) https://www.biography.com/people/ariel-castro-21311121. ↵
- Corky Siemaszko, “Michelle Knight still recovering five years after being freed from Ariel Castro,” ABC News, (2018), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michelle-knight-still-recovering-5-years-after-being-freed-ariel-n870906. ↵
- Melanie Eversley and Doug Stranglin, “Autopsy: Ariel Castro hanged himself in prison cell,” USA Today, (2013), https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/04/ariel-castro-hung-prison/2761177/. ↵
- Corky Siemaszko, “Michelle Knight still recovering five years after being freed from Ariel Castro,” ABC News, (2018), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michelle-knight-still-recovering-5-years-after-being-freed-ariel-n870906. ↵
- Andrea Sedlak, David Finkelhor, Heather Hammer, and Dana Schultz, “National Estimates of Missing Children: An Overview,” NISMART, (2002): 5-10. ↵
124 comments
Shriji Lalji
A very interesting article. The story is absolutely astonishing. It is hard to imagine a neighbor being a kidnapper and rapist. Therefore it is always important to remain cautious. The three women have incredible strength the survive the torture and gain their freedom. To think that our communities can have such terrible criminals is saddening. All we can do is take precautions and enjoy our freedoms accordingly.
Haley Ticas
This article is very informative on the realities of such atrocities that are committed by individuals in this world. It sheds light on the fact that one can never really fully know a person and that one must be cautious of trusting others. In the case of these three women, it was a local bus driver and an acquaintance to one of the girls that kidnapped and tormented them. Although the women lost 10 years of their lives being held captive, I am glad that they took a risk and were able to be rescued from such a cruel man.
Victoria Hoggard
This article was chilling to read, it’s weird that we think we know the people we live next door to but in reality we don’t at all. I can’t imagine how his neighbors felt after finding out he had kidnapped and help hostage three women and a child. I’ve never heard of a crime like this until reading this article. It’s a very interesting story but I can’t imagine how hard it is for those women to live a normal life after being trapped for so long.
Caroline Bush
Great article! Ariel Castro was a truly disgusting man and those women were so brave to have survived him. I don’t think anyone fully knows a person even if you are close to them that’s why it’s always important to remain aware and cautious of your surroundings. It’s terrifying to think that these poor girls were trapped in a suburban neighborhood and no one even realized it. I am so grateful that those poor girls and now free and got the justice they so rightfully deserved.
Adrianna Hernandez
Great article! I remember hearing about it over the news, and my parents being frightened since my sibling and I would walk to school and back home. It’s scary how we can “know” someone when in reality we don’t. I find it crazy how Castro would beat up all three girls, even crazier how one of them happened to be his daughter’s friend. It’s sad that neither of them will be able to have the ten years they lost while being held kidnapped.
Aracely Beltran
Ariel Castro is such a sick person. I remember Amanda Berry’s story, she is so brave! His face will never leave my mind, I looked at his picture and wondered where I had seen this pervert before. Poor girls, he deserved his sentencing. They will never get those 10 years back, I hope they can find some sort of happiness now.
Melanie Fraire
This article was very interesting yet terrifying to read and I don’t even know where to begin with, the fact that he hid them for 11 years without anyone having any suspicions or the terrible ways he would torture them. Overall this was very tough to read because those women will never get that time back or get rid of the trauma it caused them.
David Castaneda Picon
Wow! This was very shocking to read. I have never heard about Ariel Castro’s kidnappings before and I think is scary even to just think about what he did to those poor, innocent girls. I find very curious that we think that we know someone just because of his appearance or how they treat us, but in fact we don’t really know what is going on in that persons mind. It is crazy how no person of the community noticed that Castro had those girls kidnapped in his house, the fact that people never suspected Castro was bad or mentally ill is insane.
Savannah Alcazar
I enjoyed this writing. I can’t believe he held three girls for 11 years INSIDE his home without detection. I found it odd that he would impregnate Michelle Knight and beat her until she miscarried. Then he threatened Amanda Berry’s life if her baby did not survive.
This is a horrible situation I would never wish upon anyone.
My heart goes out to those girls and their families. I think we as a community need to do a better job when it involves missing kids, and never count anyone out as a suspect.
Samantha Zamorano
As I was glancing through articles trying to find one to read, the first paragraph immediately caught my attention. I remember hearing about this story in the news when I was younger and reading this article today, I still have the same feelings of disgust and anger. These women endured so much torment during some of the most transformative years of their lives. I am filled with anger on behalf of those women because Ariel Castro was in prison for one month and he decided his guilt was too much to handle; but these women were in their own prison for nearly a decade and there is no way to ever get those years back. The horrific things people are capable of doing is terrifying.