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Tag: Gina DeJesus

  • Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus Get Honorary Diplomas From High School Berry Attended Before Being Kidnapped By Ariel Castro

    Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus had 10 years of their lives stolen from them after they were kidnapped and tortured by Ariel Castro.

    Because they were being held captive and forced into the unspeakable for a decade, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight, his three victims, missed out on several of life’s milestones.

    On Wednesday, at least one of those milestones was recaptured by Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus.

    Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus got to walk across the stage at the graduation ceremony for John Marshall High School in Cleveland. That is the high school that Amanda, 17 at the time of her abduction, attended and the one that Gina, just 14 at the time of her abduction, would have attended.

    Amanda Berry said after the ceremony, “It was awesome. I always wanted to grow up and be somebody and do something with my life, you know? I always planned to graduate, and my mom always wanted that for me, to see me cross the stage. So this means everything to me.”

    For Amanda Berry, graduation from high school was to be a step closer to her dream of being the first in her family to go to college.

    In the new memoir written by Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, with help from journalists Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan, Berry wrote in a journal-like entry that was dated for the morning she was kidnapped, “After I graduate from college I am going to earn enough money to buy my own house.”

    That dream is still attainable by Amanda Berry, and perhaps having her diploma will inspire her to go ahead with her plans.

    Congratulations to Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus!

    What do you think of these ladies finally being able to graduate?

  • Michelle Knight Says She Forgives Ariel Castro ‘In Every Sense of the Way’ Despite 11 Years of Captivity, Rape and Abuse

    Michelle Knight, one of three girls kidnapped, raped and abused for 11 years at the hands of their captor, Ariel Castro, said she forgives the man who put her through years of unimaginable torture.

    On Beyond Candid Thursday, Michelle Knight told Giuliana Rancic that she has forgiven her captor.

    After describing the countless horrors she experienced during her 11 years in captivity, Michelle Knight told Rancic she has learned to forgive Castro.

    “So you can honestly say that you forgive Ariel Castro?” asked Giuliana Rancic on Beyond Candid With Giuliana.

    “Yes, in every sense of the way. Even though other people may not feel like I should, but I feel like I should. It’s like turning dirt into gold,” said Michelle Knight.

    According to Michelle Knight, Ariel Castro tortured her, made her miscarry five times, forced her to eat food she was allergic to and left her to die. And yet, she still has forgiveness in her heart for the man who so mistreated her.

    Michelle Knight conceded that it took a very long time before she was able to arrive at a place of forgiveness, but said it was liberating. She wants others to know of the power of forgiveness and that it is possible to move on despite unimaginable pain.

    Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus escaped in May 2013 after Castro forgot to lock their door when he went out of the home where he held them captive.

    Castro was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years, but committed suicide by hanging in September 2013.

    Despite her ability to forgive, there are lingering physical and emotional effects of her ordeal. She continues to struggle with eating, suffers headaches and gets sick easily.

    Michelle Knight legally changed her name, and looks forward to a normal future with plans for a home, marriage and children.

    Do you think you could forgive Ariel Castro like Michelle Knight has been able to do?

  • Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry Talk Kidnapping And 10 Year Captivity Two Years Later

    Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry were freed almost two years ago from a hell-on-earth captivity, which included abuse, chains, and rape.

    Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry, and Michelle Knight were all kidnapped between 2002 and 2004 by Ariel Castro and held captive for 10 years.

    That is, until one day when Castro forgot to lock the door. It was then that Amanda Berry, after grabbing her 6-year-old daughter who was fathered by Castro, kicked in the front door and called 911.

    Ariel Castro was quickly arrested. He confessed to the crime and was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years for his guilty plea to 937 counts including kidnapping and rape. He committed suicide shortly after.

    Now, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry have a memoir coming out on Tuesday the 28th detailing their horrific life together under the watch of Ariel Castro.

    “He was always watching us,” Gina DeJesus, now 25, said about Castro. “Before the door opened, your heart was just beating real fast. You didn’t know why he was coming up the stairs or what was going to happen.”

    Though their lives were a living nightmare, Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry, and Michelle Knight did have sweet moments of normalcy every once in a while.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSCxzkHBmrQ

    Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry told of their love for the show, The Vampire Diaries, which they watched every Thursday night.

    “We would watch the show and then for two hours afterward, we would talk about what’s going to happen next week,” said Berry. But, the joy that The Vampire Diaries brought them didn’t last too long.

    Gina DeJesus added, “He would walk up the stairs and just ruin our whole day.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8JOXUhQ6DE

    Such a harrowing experience for Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry. It was also extremely difficult for Michelle Knight, but she has chosen to part from her fellow captives and deal with the tragedy in her own way.

    Knight’s book, Finding Me, was released last year. In it, she said that Gina DeJesus was like a “sister,” but everyone needed to go thier own way to heal from the nightmare they endured.

    What do you think? Will you be reading the books written by Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry, and Michelle Knight?

  • Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry Share Their Story Of 10 Years of Captivity, Rape, Abuse and Survival

    Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry Share Their Story Of 10 Years of Captivity, Rape, Abuse and Survival

    Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry broke their silence recently about their 10-year ordeal of being kidnapped, chained, raped, physically and emotionally abused by their captor Ariel Castro.

    After 10 long years of unimaginable torture, Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight, along with Berry’s six-year-old daughter, managed to escape nearly two years ago when Castro forgot to lock them inside their rooms when he left the home. The girls fled the only home they had known for 10 years, called 911 and were free.

    “Sometimes, there are days that I just can’t believe it,” Amanda Berry, now 29, told People magazine exclusively. “I just feel like I can’t believe that this happened to me.”

    Gina DeJesus and her co-captees released a book chronicling their ordeal, Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland, written with Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan.

    “He was always watching us,” Gina DeJesus, 25, said about Castro. “Before the door opened, your heart was just beating real fast.”

    Amanda Berry said their days were filled with uncertainty and constant fear.

    “You didn’t know why he was coming up the stairs or what was going to happen.”

    Despite horrific circumstances, Gina DeJesus and the girls spent their evenings when Castro went to work like many other girls their age by dancing and singing and watching their favorite show, The Vampire Diaries, every Thursday night.

    “We would watch the show and then for two hours afterward, we would talk about what’s going to happen next week,” said Berry.

    The fun would be broken the moment Castro returned home.

    “He would walk up the stairs and just ruin our whole day,” said Gina DeJesus.

    Some days were more difficult than others.

    “At the time, I thought I was going to be there forever so I didn’t care if I died,” said Gina DeJesus.

    However, a deep-rooted hope is what kept them going, said the women, who still live in Cleveland with their families.

    “You had to stay positive because if you didn’t, there was no reason to try and survive it,” said Amanda Berry.

    As for Castro, he was sentenced to life without parole and took his own life by hanging the next month.

  • Amanda Berry Opens Up About Dramatic Escape From Torture House

    Amanda Berry Opens Up About Dramatic Escape From Torture House

    Amanda Berry, who was held captive for ten years with two other women by a man who raped and tortured all three of them, opened up recently about what the moment was like when she realized she had a chance to escape.

    Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight were all kidnapped by Ariel Castro at different times and forced to live in his Cleveland home, where they all suffered unimaginable abuse. Knight reportedly took the brunt of Castro’s anger and required surgery on her face to repair the damage he had done; Berry became pregnant by him and later had the child inside the home with the help of DeJesus and Knight. One night, Castro forgot to lock the women in their rooms, and Berry saw her chance for escape.

    “I didn’t know what to do, my heart immediately started pounding because I’m like, ‘is– should I chance it? … He could be here any minute, if I’m going to do it, I need to do it now,’” Berry told Robin Roberts in an interview for 20/20.

    Berry bravely kicked open the front door and took her daughter–then 6 years old–outside, where she screamed for help. Her act of courage helped save the other two women, and their story has been turned into a book written by Berry, DeJesus, and two Washington Post journalists. Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland will be released on April 27.

    For the women, hope was often the only thing that kept them going.

    “You had to stay positive because if you didn’t, there was no reason to try and survive it,” Berry told People Magazine.

    Castro was captured and imprisoned, but later committed suicide in his cell. Now, all three women continue to live with their families in Cleveland and are doing their best to move on from a decade of horrors. Last year, they were given courage awards by the governor, who said they were responsible for their own survival.

    “No one rescued them, they rescued themselves; first by staying strong and by sticking together, and then by literally breaking out into freedom,” Governor Kasich said.

  • Michelle Knight Played by Taryn Manning in Lifetime’s Portrayal of Ariel Castro Kidnappings

    MIchelle Knight, one of Ariel Castro’s kidnapping victims, will be portrayed by Orange is the New Black star Taryn Manning when Lifetime brings her ordeal to life in Cleveland Abduction.

    Michelle Knight was one of three women kidnapped by Ariel Castro. Knight was held captive for a decade. Castro’s other victims, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, will be played by Samantha Droke and Katie Sarife, respectively. Breaking Bad star Raymond Cruz plays the late Ariel Castro. The movie is based on the book by Michelle Knight, titled Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed.

    Taryn Manning is best known for her portrayal of Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett on the Netflix series Orange is the New Black. She is the vocalist for Boomkat and co-owns a clothing line called Born Uniqorn.

    Ariel Castro committed suicide in prison just one month into his life sentence. He hanged himself with a bed sheet in his cell.

    Michelle Knight was a 21-year-old single mom when she was abducted by Ariel Castro back in August of 2002. She was impregnated at least five times by her abductor. She was beaten and starved during her time in captivity, and was the first of the young women kidnapped by Castro.

    Cleveland Abduction was filmed in Cleveland. It is set to air on the Lifetime network next month, on April 25th at 8:00 PM ET. Will you be tuning in to see Taryn Manning in this role?

  • Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight Writing Books

    Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry, and Michelle Knight have become internationally famous names after they were found alive–after more than a decade of captivity–in a home in Cleveland. Their captor and sometimes torturer, Ariel Castro, committed suicide in prison just a few months after their dramatic rescue, leaving so many questions unanswered. But now, the public will get the inside story on exactly what happened in that home, as DeJesus and Berry are collaborating on a book.

    The women released statements this week, on the one-year anniversary of their release, saying they are working on getting their lives back together even now. DeJesus, who was 14 years old when she was taken by Castro, said she’s trying to adapt to new technology and is learning to drive for the first time. She spoke briefly about her collaboration with Berry, saying she’s excited about being able to get her story out. The book will be co-written by two reporters from the Washington Post.

    “I am spending time with my family and working with Amanda on a book that we are really excited about,” she said.

    Michelle Knight has a book of her own coming out this week called Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings . The book tells her own story of torture and unimaginable abuse at the hands of Castro, who took advantage of her estrangement from her family to keep her under his thumb. She says she’s moving on from the darkest time in her life by singing and training to be a boxer.

    Image via YouTube

  • Joan Rivers Makes Jokes About Lohan, Hostage Victims

    Comedienne Joan Rivers is in hot water after making a few controversial comments about Lindsey Lohan, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus.

    When asked by a reporter about Lohan’s recent revelation that she suffered a miscarriage, Rivers didn’t hold back.

    “I hope she kept it,” Rivers stated. After Rivers’ daughter Melissa showed her disapproval towards the comment, Rivers kept going.

    “Excuse me, who do you think I am,” Rivers quipped. “I was born with a coat hanger in my ear.”

    When asked if she thought Lohan would make a good mother, the 80-year-old continued with the harsh comments.

    “She would have been diapering the wrong end,” she said laughing.

    Lohan wasn’t the only person Rivers had some insensitive words for. During a recent trip to the Today show, Rivers spoke about Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, the two Cleveland women who were held captive in the basement of Ariel Castro’s house for ten years.

    When speaking about staying in her daughter’s guest room, Rivers said the two tortured women had it better.

    “Those women in the basement in Cleveland had more space,” she joked.

    Lawyers of Berry and DeJesus came out and deemed the comments as hurtful, but Rivers didn’t feel the need to apologize.

    “They got to live rent free for more than a decade,” she said. “One of them has a book deal. Neither are in a psych ward. They’re OK. I bet you within three years one of them will be on Dancing With the Stars.”

    When asked about her comments regarding the women who endured brutal and inhumane conditions, Rivers didn’t back down.

    “There is nothing to apologize for,” she said defending herself. “I know what those girls went through. It was a little stupid joke. Nothing to apologize for. I made a joke. That’s what I do. Calm down. Calm f***ing down. I’m a comedienne. They’re free, so let’s move on.”

    Here’s what Twitter had to say about the comments:

    Do you think Rivers’ comments were inappropriate? Leave your comments below!

    Image via Joan Rivers, Twitter

  • Amanda Berry and Fellow Captives Receive Awards

    Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight received Ohio Governor John Kasich’s annual courage awards during a ceremony on Monday night. The three women survived at least a decade of captivity at the hands of Ariel Castro, who kidnapped the three at separate times.

    Governor Kasich called the story of these three women one of “hurt beyond imagination.” He also said it wasn’t a story that ended with their kidnapping and abuse.

    “It is also a story of three women who found an inner strength and a courage that brought them through and sustained them,” Kasich said near the end of his annual State of the State speech. “No one rescued them, they rescued themselves_first by staying strong and by sticking together, and then by literally breaking out into freedom.”

    The three women were finally rescued when Amanda Berry pushed her way through a door and screamed for help. She and her 6-year-old daughter were helped to freedom by a neighbor who heard her screams.

    Amanda Berry was just 16 years old when she was kidnapped. Her 6-year-old is the biological daughter of Ariel Castro. He kept all three women chained in separate rooms, often without access to food or a toilet. He pleaded guilty in August 2013 to hundreds of charges. He told a judge at his sentencing that he suffered from addictions to both sex and pornography.

    “I’m not a monster. I’m sick,” he said.

    In September of 2103, Ariel Castro hanged himself in his prison cell after he was sentenced to life in prison, plus 1,000 years.

    Governor Kasich hugged all three women Monday night before entering the hall to give his speech. As he announced the awards he called Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight “three extraordinary women, who despite having the worst in this world thrown at them, rose above it and emerged not as victims, but as victors.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Ariel Castro Arraigned, Charged With 4 Counts Of Kidnapping, 3 Counts Of Rape

    Ariel Castro was arraigned on Thursday, appearing in court for the first time since he and his two brothers were arrested in the case of the three kidnapped women in Cleveland. The brothers were not charged, but Ariel was arraigned on four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape.

    Castro reportedly spent the majority of the hearing looking down at his feet. USA Today reports:

    In a brief explanation of the charges, prosecutor Brian Murphy alleged that Castro had “snatched three young ladies from the streets” and forced them to endure a “horrifying ordeal for more than a decade.”

    He said the victims had been “bound, restrained and sexually assaulted.”

    “They were never free to leave this residence,” he said, referring to Castro’s home on Seymour Avenue.

    Bail was set at $8 million. Judge Lauren Moore ordered that he have no contact with the victims or their families, should he post bond.

    Two of the three women – Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus – returned home on Wednesday. The third, Michelle Knight, remains in a hospital in Cleveland.

  • Michelle Knight Photo Finally Surfaces

    Michelle Knight Photo Finally Surfaces

    Earlier, we looked at photos of two of the three women – Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus – who were kidnapped a decade ago in Cleveland, and rescued this week. There had been no photos of third woman Michelle Knight circulating.

    Now, the first photo of Knight has come out (above), and was shown in this ABC News report:


    US News | Syria News| More ABC News Videos

    According to Cleveland.com, the photo was reportedly taken in 1999.

    Knight is reportedly recovering in the hospital, as the other women (and Berry’s kid) have returned home.

    Knight was 21 years old when she was kidnapped. She had last been seen in August of 2002 until the rescue this week.

  • Photos Of Kidnapped Women Amanda Berry And Gina Dejesus

    UPDATE: A photo of Michelle Knight has surfaced.

    The story of the three missing girls (now women) who have been rescued after being kidnapped a decade ago, has taken the nation by storm. It’s a tragic story, without question, but it’s nice to at least see one in which the victims survived.

    Amanda Berry has been deemed the “real hero” of this whole thing by Cleveland police, after she called 911 and got the whole thing “rolling”.

    There has been a website dedicated to finding Berry, including these pictures from before the kidnapping:

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    Hat tip to EveryJoe, who also shares these photos of Gina DeJesus, one of the other kidnapped women:

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    Photos of the third woman, Michelle Knight, are not circulating so much. According to Mail Online, while Berry’s and DeJesus’ cases have remained “high profile” over the past ten years, not as much is known about Knight, and according to the publication, no picture has been published of her so far.