Warning: The following article contains mentions of explicit themes and sexual abuse. Please read with caution.
Emergency services dispatchers receive many harrowing requests for help while on duty. In 2013, a 911 operator in Cleveland, Ohio, got a call they likely never expected. Amanda Berry was on the line.
In her 911 call, Berry said, “Help me. I’m Amanda Berry. I’ve been kidnapped and missing for ten years. I am here. I am free now” (via People). Berry had bravely escaped the home of a man named Ariel Castro, where she was physically and sexually assaulted and kept captive in chains. All the while, Berry watched the investigation into her disappearance play out on television.
At one point, Castro contacted Berry’s family. In a menacing phone call, he said, “I have Mandy. She wants to be with me,’” according to Berry’s sister. In the more than a decade Berry spent in Castro’s home, Berry’s mother died, and she gave birth to Castro’s child, a daughter named Jocelyn, who lived with Berry in her kidnapper’s home, according to ABC News.
Berry and Jocelyn, however, were not the only women freed when Berry made her move. Along with Berry, Castro abducted two other women — Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight. Castro kept them all captive for years.
The day Berry escaped
On the day Amanda Berry escaped Ariel Castro’s home, her daughter Jocelyn alerted her Castro was not around, and taking her chance, Berry ran to the front door, typically guarded with an alarm. Though padlocked, the door was partially open this time — just enough for Berry to get her arm through. Castro’s neighbor, Charles Ramsey, noticed the commotion and came to help. After Ramsey kicked in the door, Berry and Jocelyn were free. Berry rushed to another neighbor’s house and called for help. To this day, Berry’s unsure why Castro left the door open the day she escaped.
In the meantime, Castro’s other captives — Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight — were still inside the home, unsure what to do and unable to comprehend what Berry had done — she must have been caught. Before long, Cleveland police arrived at Castro’s home, and it was then that both women understood their long nightmare was over.
Castro was sentenced to life in prison
Eventually, Castro was sentenced to life in prison plus a thousand years for his crimes, including more than 900 counts of kidnap and rape, to which he pleaded guilty. The same year Berry escaped, however, bringing Castro’s crimes to light, he died by suicide in his prison cell. Since then, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight have rebuilt their lives after enduring unspeakable trauma. Berry’s daughter Jocelyn, born in Castro’s captivity, has also adjusted to life on the outside.
In 2015, Berry and DeJesus wrote a memoir, Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland, and today, all three women went on to work in missing and abducted women and sex trafficking prevention services. On her post-Castro life, Berry said, “I just want to make the world a better place” (via ABC News).
If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.