The BBC is investigating the now-infamous rescue of three abducted women who had been held captive for a decade in a densely populated Cleveland neighbourhood. In interviews with the families and neighbors of the women and their captor, Ariel Castro, host Rick Edwards questioned how the women had gone missing for so long without being found.
Many viewers will remember the case that made national headlines when victim Amanda Berry managed to free herself, drawing the attention of neighbor Charles Ramsay, who responded to her calls for help and enabled her to call 911 . In the emotional recording, Berry, long thought dead, calls rescuers to free her of more than 10 years of her sentence and free herself, the child she unknowingly fathered with Castro, and Two other women imprisoned by Castro.
In creating the kidnapping timeline, we learned that every young woman on Lorain Avenue has been kidnapped, first Michelle Knight in 2002, followed by Amanda Berry in 2003 and the youngest at 14 in 2004 Victim Gina DeJesus. In a particularly disturbing revelation, we learn that the DeJesus family is close to the Castro family, and that Ariel Castro attended the memorial service and worked hard to find Gina, when, in fact, she was locked away in his own basement.
Edwards draws attention to Castro himself, and wonders how an ordinary man who is supposed to be friendly can go about his life so casually while hiding such a nasty dark secret. Coming from a close-knit family who are considered respected members of the local Puerto Rican community, news of Ariel Castro’s involvement in the kidnap came as a devastating blow to his friends and family. Initially described as an average guy who drives a school bus, loves cars, and plays bass in a salsa band, it’s also revealed that his violent tendencies were evident in his marriage. He was known to have abused his wife and mother of four, culminating in a divorce and loss of custody.
In this harrowing overview of her life in captivity, we learn about the living conditions, violent intimidation and repeated rapes each woman endured at the hands of Castro. After interviewing the medical staff who cared for her in the days after her rescue, many considered her survival a miracle.
Despite women’s emancipation gains, viewers wonder what the appropriate punishment will be for Castro, how his crimes went undetected for so long, and how his victims will carry so much darkness Move on from the past.
