Casefile - The Cleveland Kidnappings
On May 6th, 2013, in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, Charles Ramsey sat down in his living room to eat lunch. Not long after, he heard a commotion outside; the sounds of continuous banging and a woman screaming coming from his next door neighbor’s house. Charles stepped onto his front porch, looking toward his neighbor Ariel Castro’s house. He saw a woman’s arm flailing wildly between the space she made between the storm door. In the year that Charles had lived next to Ariel, he had never seen a woman there; he believed Ariel lived alone. Charles went over to investigate further. The woman said that she was trapped inside the house, being held against her will. She was screaming, crying, begging for help, wanting to be freed. Charles attempted to pry open the door, pulling from the outside while she pushed from the inside, but the door didn’t budge; it was chained to the door frame with a thick padlock. The glass was unbreakable having been replaced with thick Plexiglas. The only option Charles had then was to kick in the thin aluminum bottom of the storm door. Finally he kicked a hole big enough to allow the girl to crawl out. Once free of the house, the girl turned around and called through the opening, “Come on baby.” Out crawled a little girl; maybe 6 years old. The three then rushed to call 911. When the dispatcher answered, the girl said, “Help me, I’m Amanda Berry… I need police… I’ve been kidnapped, and I’ve been missing for ten years, and I’m here, I’m fine now.”
Ariel Castro was born on July 1960 in Yauco, Puerto Rico and moved to the United States when he was a child; his family eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio. After he graduated high school, Ariel held several menial jobs before being hired as a school bus driver for the Cleveland Municipality. He bought the 2207 Seymour property in 1992 with his wife Grimilda Figueroa and their 3 children: Ariel (“Anthony”), Arlene, and Emily. Ariel was also a well-known musician in the community, playing in several bands including a popular Latino band, Grupo Kanon, for almost 2 decades. Neighbors and people that knew Ariel considered him a normal person. They liked him and said he was friendly and active in the community. He would invite friends over, including neighbor Charles Ramsey, to eat barbequed ribs, drink beer, and listen to Salsa music. But this well-liked community man had a dark, sinister side that he hid well.
Ariel Castro had a very violent streak in him. In 1996, Castro’s wife Grimilda Figueroa filed for divorce after several domestic violence incidents. Castro had a history of domestic violence, beating Figueroa regularly and throwing her down the stairs. One incident resulted in Figueroa receiving multiple injuries including a broken nose, broken ribs, dislocated shoulders and a blood clot on her brain. Figueroa was granted custody of the children when the divorce was complete, but that didn’t keep Castro from trying to see his kids, occasionally abducting them. Restraining orders where filed and granted, but were dropped months afterward. Castro had several run-ins with the law outside of his domestic violence disputes as well. In 2004, Castro was accused of leaving a child unattended in his bus while he went into a fast food restaurant to eat. He eventually was suspended and fired for a 2012 incident where he left the bus unattended for four hours. These incidents were just a glimpse of the monster that lived at 2207 Seymour Avenue from 2002 to 2013.
On August 23rd, 2002, 20-year-old Michelle Knight was walking to a meeting with a social worker for her son that afternoon, but wasn’t familiar with the location of the building. She asked several people until she found someone that knew where it was, Ariel Castro. He offered to take her to the meeting. Michelle knew his son Anthony so she gladly accepted. Castro mentioned that his dog just had puppies and asked Michelle if she wanted one for her son. She said she did and agreed to go to his house to look at them. Michelle noticed that Castro closed and locked the gate after she was in; it wasn’t alarming since it wasn’t the best of neighborhoods. Michelle started to become uneasy once inside the house. There was no noise, no dogs barking or puppies whining as they climbed the stairs. Castro ushered her into a room and locked the door behind him. That was the last time Michelle was seen until May 6th, 2013.
Amanda Berry got off work at Burger King early on April 21st, 2003. Not wanting to walk home, she called her sister for a ride. Unfortunately, her sister was still working and another friend didn’t answer so she began walking. Shortly after, Ariel Castro’s van pulled up and he asked her if she needed a ride. Noticing her Burger King uniform, Castro said that his son used to work at Burger King and that she knew his daughters. Not wanting to walk the rest of the way home, Amanda got into the van. She knew she was in trouble when they pulled up to an unfamiliar house. It was a day before her 17th birthday. No one saw her again until Charles Ramsey on the day of her rescue.
Georgina “Gina” DeJesus was walking home from school with a friend on April 2nd 2004. Her friend, Arlene Castro stopped to call her mother from a pay phone to ask if she could stay over Gina’s house. Her mother said no and the girls went their separate ways. A little time later, Castro’s van pulled up to Gina, asking if she saw his daughter. Gina said that she just left her, but Castro asked for help looking for his daughter. Gina agreed and got into the van but didn’t turn around in the direction Arlene was walking; instead he drove to house a few miles away. This was the first day of almost a decade of torture.
Michelle, Amanda, and Gina spent the next 10 years enduring mental and physical torture. Castro would threaten them if they made a noise or tried to escape. Castro raped, beat, and mentally abused them daily; some days up to 5 times a day. He locked the girls in separate rooms with chains that connected through the walls. He would starve them, sometime withholding food for almost 2 weeks. During this time, Castro would still entertain guests, having barbeques and inviting his brothers over; but some of his guests got an eerie feeling while there. Castro wouldn’t allow people in certain parts of the house, claiming that the garage, basement and 2nd floor were off limits. Castro always kept a radio or television on at high volumes. A friend asked about a noise he heard from the upstairs, a loud banging coming from overhead; Castro blamed it on his dogs and turned the radio up. Castro would allow the girls to watch television and mock them when stories about them would come on the news. He would use this to torture the girls. One night he attended a candlelight vigil held for the girls, leading prayers and hugging and consoling the parents. After the vigil, he brought a flyer home; it was given to him by Gina’s mother.
Through the daily abuse and rapes, the girls would become pregnant; Michelle Knight claimed to have been impregnated at least 5 times. Each time, Castro would starve her, punch and kick her in the stomach, and push her down the stairs terminating the pregnancies. He did allow one child to be born however. Amanda was able to carry her daughter Jocelyn to term in 2007. Castro forced Michelle to deliver the baby in a children’s swimming pool that was in Amanda’s room while he sat in a chair reading a book on how to deliver babies. Castro threatened Michelle saying that if the baby wasn’t alive and healthy, he would kill her. Thankfully, Michelle was able to deliver Jocelyn without any complications. Little did he know, little baby Jocelyn would spell his downfall. Castro conditioned the girls by leaving their rooms unlocked and hiding until they tried to escape. He would then beat and starve them. The girls quit trying to escape. This allowed Castro to leave the house as he wished, keeping up his appearance as a good neighbor and family man, occasionally going to his mother’s house for family meals. Only Jocelyn was allowed to move freely around the house and yard. Castro would take her out to play sometimes. Castro would say she was his girlfriend’s child if he was asked about the little girl. It was Jocelyn’s ability to roam the house that led to the events on May 6th, 2013.
That afternoon Jocelyn was roaming the house looking for her daddy. She came to Amanda and told her that Castro wasn’t in the house; “daddy’s blue car is gone.” Amanda fearing this may be another test, told Jocelyn to go look in the yard or garage. Jocelyn returned telling Amanda that daddy was nowhere to be found. Amanda descended the stairs and looked around the house with Jocelyn, finding it empty. She also noticed something else; the big front door was left unlocked. Opening the door found another storm door closed and latched with a lock and chain but she was able to open the door a few inches; just enough to fit her arm through. She began to wave wildly, screaming for help from anyone nearby. Luckily, she got the attention of Charles Ramsey who approached the house and was able to free her and Jocelyn and call 911.
The police arrived shortly after the 911 call was made and tried to usher Amanda into an ambulance. She refused until the other girls were rescued. Police officers entered the house, announcing themselves. Gina hesitated, she thought the noise was Amanda being caught and beaten by Castro. She dared to peek out her door, when she saw the police, she ran into their arms. Michelle hesitated also, opening and closing her door multiple times. Once she found the courage, she opened the door completely, rushed to the police throwing her arms around the nearest one and wouldn’t let go. The officers helped them down the stairs and outside. The girls were abused and malnourished; Michelle Knight only weighed 80 pounds upon her rescue. They were then rushed to hospital where they were held for several days before being released to their families. While in route to the hospital, the girls gave a description of Castro’s vehicle. The hunt for the monster was on.
Castro left his mother’s house after a meal with her and his brothers. The brothers found it odd when Ariel pulled into the McDonald’s parking lot having just finished dinner. Ariel explained that the police had pulled him over. Once Ariel was identified, all 3 Castro brothers were arrested and taken in for questioning; brothers Pedro and Onil Castro were released. Ariel Castro alone faced the initial 3 counts of rape and 4 counts of kidnapping. At first, Castro pled not guilty, but as more charges were filed, Castro was facing the death penalty. In an attempt to avoid capital punishment, he pled guilty to 937 charges that included assault, rape, kidnapping and aggravated murder. Castro claimed he was sick, that it was an addiction to sex that made him commit these atrocities against the women. In August 2013, Ariel Castro was sentenced to life in prison plus 1000 years. At the trial, Michelle Knight made a victim impact statement saying, “I will not let you define who I am.” One month into his sentence, on September 3rd, Ariel Castro was found dead in his cell, having hanged himself with his bedsheets. He couldn’t survive a month of the treatment he subjected the 3 girls to for a decade.
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