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The Disgusting Details of the Cleveland Kidnappers Begin to Emerge
Last edited Wed May 8, 2013, 08:54 AM - Edit history (1)
Cleveland police were not very forthcoming this morning with details on the investigation of the rescued kidnapping victims, but a few leaked reports and at least one odd coincidence are shedding some light on the man who appears to be most responsible.
According to the family of Gina DeJesus, who spoke to local CBS affliate WOIO, one the women who was held captive for nearly a decade, say that she actually knew Ariel Castro, the owner of the house where the women were found, because he was a relative of one of her friends. It's not known if they interacted or had any sort of relationship before DeJesus was kidnapped, but since the other two women were also from the area, it's possible he knew them as well.
The family also says that Castro came to public vigils that were held for at least two of the girls after they disappeared. Castro is awaiting charges along with his two brothers. Their mugshots were just released to the media.
While the official official story hasn't changed, other law enforcement sources have leaked details of the investigation, though they have not been publicly confirmed from local authorities. In what is the most disturbing claim — though not a otally unexpected one — WKYC in Cleveland reports that all three women were forced to have sex with their captors, resulting in at least five pregnancies during their time in captivity. According to their sources, the pregnant women were beaten until they lost the babies, though it seems at least one (the daughter of Amanda Berry who was also rescued) survived.
Station WOIO also reports that the women were usually held in the basement, though one was in an upstairs room, and one of the rooms in the house had chains hanging from the ceiling.
More: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/05/cleveland-kidnappers-reports/64970/
According to the family of Gina DeJesus, who spoke to local CBS affliate WOIO, one the women who was held captive for nearly a decade, say that she actually knew Ariel Castro, the owner of the house where the women were found, because he was a relative of one of her friends. It's not known if they interacted or had any sort of relationship before DeJesus was kidnapped, but since the other two women were also from the area, it's possible he knew them as well.
The family also says that Castro came to public vigils that were held for at least two of the girls after they disappeared. Castro is awaiting charges along with his two brothers. Their mugshots were just released to the media.
While the official official story hasn't changed, other law enforcement sources have leaked details of the investigation, though they have not been publicly confirmed from local authorities. In what is the most disturbing claim — though not a otally unexpected one — WKYC in Cleveland reports that all three women were forced to have sex with their captors, resulting in at least five pregnancies during their time in captivity. According to their sources, the pregnant women were beaten until they lost the babies, though it seems at least one (the daughter of Amanda Berry who was also rescued) survived.
Station WOIO also reports that the women were usually held in the basement, though one was in an upstairs room, and one of the rooms in the house had chains hanging from the ceiling.
More: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/05/cleveland-kidnappers-reports/64970/
ETA:
Police Apparently Missed Multiple Calls About Women on Dog Leashes in the Castros' Yard
Update 10:22 p.m.: Following the USA Today report, Cleveland Police walked back on their previous statement and admitted that they had actually received two 911 calls regarding the Castro house, neither of which appears to be related to the kidnappings. The police statement reads:
Upon researching our call intake system extensively, only two calls for service from police are shown at that address. One call was from the resident, Ariel Castro, reporting a fight in the street. The second call was in relation to an incident regarding Ariel Castro and his duties as a bus driver.
Original Post: The case of the three women held captive for a decade in Cleveland reaches a new level of absurdity with a Tuesday night report detailing the many warning signs that police appear to have ignored. USA Today says that not one not two but at least three neighbors called the police between 2011 and 2012 to report suspicious activity at the house where Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight escaped their years-long imprisonment on Monday. We're not talking about the watering-the-flowers-at-midnight brand of suspicious activity. We're talking women-being-led-around-the-yard-on-dog-leashes suspicious. Some might just call that sick. (Add it to the list.)
Cleveland Police missed something. That much is clear. Despite the department's obviously extended effort to find the victims, the sheer volume of tips that would have led them to the Castro home is starting to looking pretty condemning. While some are calling the USA Today report "mostly hearsay," it's hard to believe that so many different neighbors would've made such similar calls. Some reported inexplicably large amounts of McDonalds being carried into the house by Ariel Castro, one of the three brothers and a school bus driver. Others reported seeing women standing in the windows of the Castro house and at least once incident of a woman pounding on a window, after which they called the police.
The leash stuff really is twisted, though. "
Neighborhood) women told Lugo they called police because they saw three young girls crawling on all fours naked with dog leashes around their necks," the report reads. "Three men were controlling them in the backyard. The women told Lugo they waited two hours but police never responded to the calls." Again, this is just one of several incidents that neighbors say they reported to police, incidents that the Cleveland Police didn't follow up on. It's not just the USA Today piece that's making these claims either. Local news outlets are issuing similar reports.
Full article with embedded links: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/05/police-apparently-missed-multiple-calls-about-women-dog-leashes-castros-yard/64987/
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