3 years ago Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were rescued
CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - Three years ago on May 6, 2013 the entire nation was shocked when three missing Cleveland women were found alive.
Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight had been missing for decades. They were held captive by Ariel Castro in his home on Seymour Avenue on Cleveland's west side.
Since their release the trio has made several national and local appearances as part of their healing.
Berry and DeJesus collaborated on a best-selling book titled "Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland." The book detailed their horrific ordeal inside the Seymour house.
Knight also released a book called "Finding Me." It spent five weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. Knight also was behind a Lifetime TV movie called "Cleveland Abduction."
Berry and DeJesus recently appeared on the national talk show, Dr. Oz. The survivors showed the world how they are healing. Berry said she never gave up hope.
"I knew one day I was going to get out of that house," Berry told Dr. Oz.
And she did. Berry managed to escape the home that afternoon on May 6 and called 911.
Berry went missing when she was 16, while walking home from her job at Burger King. While held captive, Berry gave birth to a daughter, fathered by Castro. The girl was six when the women were rescued.
DeJesus was 14 when she went missing in 2004. She was walking home from school on the west side.
Knight went missing in 2002 at the age of 21.
Castro was arrested the day the women escaped. He pleaded guilty to 937 counts, including two charges of aggravated murder related to one act of forcing Knight to miscarry. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus 1,000 years. He took his own life while only being imprisoned for a month.
"For him to last only a month, I find it cowardly," said Berry to Dr. Oz. "He should've got the same treatment that we got. I think he should've suffered."
The home the women spent years in was demolished four months after their escape.
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