The Story Of Three Women Who Escaped After Ten Years Of Imprisonment

Ilustrasi photo (Engin Akyurt / Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Today, May 6, seven years ago or in 2013, the City of Cleveland, Ohio, United States has witnessed a miracle. Three women who had been kidnapped for nearly ten years were found again. They managed to survive after being locked up, tortured, and even raped by a school shuttle bus driver named Ariel Castro.

At that time, Amanda Berry, one of the three people who was kidnapped, said she survived after calling 911 using an emergency telephone belonging to someone near the location where they were held. "I have been kidnapped and missing for ten years. And I am free now," said Berry, now 33, as quoted by ABC News.

Berry, along with Gina DeJesus (29) and Michelle Knight (38) were kidnapped and held for nearly ten years by Ariel Castro. They were kidnapped between 2002 and 2004. The harassment they experienced when they were chained, starved, and physically tortured by Castro for years did not make him surrender to the situation.

Castro is a close person

It all started when Amanda Berry was kidnapped on April 21, 2003, one day before her 17th birthday. She was kidnapped after coming home from work. In fact, that day there was an intention of skipping class because the next day he would celebrate 'sweet seventeen'.

Coming home from work, Berry realized a car was following him from behind. Then a man from inside the car asked if he needed a ride.

The man turns out to be Ariel Castro, an elementary school bus driver and the father of high school classmate Berry. Nothing suspicious at first. Castro told Berry that his son was at home. He then asked Berry if he wanted to meet him.

The dipper was welcomed. "I said, 'Yes, of course,'" said Berry.

After they entered Castro's house on Seymour Avenue it turned out that his daughter was not there. Berry was then told to wait.

Castro then took Berry to his house while showing a mysterious woman who was sleeping in the room. He later found out that the woman was Michelle Knight, who had been kidnapped by Castro for almost a year. Himself became the second victim after Knight.

Castro then took Berry to the next room. "And he told me to take my pants down. From there I realized it didn't seem like it was going to be okay," Berry said.

The news of Berry's kidnapping made headlines. A week after the kidnapping, Castro called the Berries on the victim's cell phone. He admitted that he had kidnapped Berry and even mocked his family.

In 2003 a new mobile phone location tracking technology was developed by the FBI. They then waited for the cellphone to be used again, but Castro never did.

Kidnapped victims (Instagram / @ missingkids)

Castro's new prey

Nearly a year after Berry was kidnapped, Castro began looking for new prey not far from the road where he had kidnapped Berry. The next victim was Gina DeJesus, a 14 year old girl.

The abduction pattern is almost the same. DeJesus is a close friend of Castro's daughter. He also became friends with his father DeJesus. Castro kidnapped him when he came home from school.

Indeed, Castro was close to the victims. Therefore, he can know everything about his prey.

What DeJesus experienced was not much different from what Berry and Knight experienced. According to his story on ABC News, Castro first raped her on May 7, 2004.

Savior child

Three years after Berry's kidnapping, she became pregnant with Castro's child. The child was born with the name Jocelyn on Christmas 2006. Jocelyn's presence indirectly became a savior for them.

As Jocelyn got older, Castro gradually began to give freedom to victims. The chains that entangled Berry began to be released.

Castro seemed to love Jocelyn very much. So, one day for the first time in 10 years, Berry found the door to his room unlocked even though Castro was not there.

From that occasion the victims fled to a neighbor's house until they found a telephone and dialed 911. After a long time, the police arrived and rescued them.

In August 2013, Castro was rewarded. He was sentenced to life in prison plus one thousand years in prison after pleading guilty to 937 counts of kidnapping and rape. One month later, he was found killed by suicide in prison.