18-02-2025
Former Cleveland kidnapping victims now helping others
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(NewsNation) — Three women who went missing on the streets of Ohio after being abducted are now taking back their lives years later.
Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, now known as Lily Rose Lee, were 14, 16 and 20 years old when they were abducted in Cleveland.
The windows to the house were blocked, interior doors barricaded, until Berry made a daring escape.
Berry became pregnant and gave birth in captivity. Her own mother ended up passing away without knowing Berry made it out alive.
While she said she was 'very happy' to return after her ordeal, Berry says it's also 'very sad, because I thought I would come home to my mom.'
'I didn't get a chance to do that, so that's the only thing that hurts,' Berry said.
The three were able to see the house they were held in demolished.
'After 11 years, I'm finally being heard,' Lee said at the time. 'And it's liberating.'
The women also witnessed their captor, Ariel Castro, sentenced to life in prison. He later died by suicide at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio in 2013.
'In the beginning, everybody used to come up to me and tell me, 'Oh we've been helping your mom, we've been looking for you,'' DeJesus said.
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Now, in 2025, the group of women is focused on helping others in need. Berry joined the reporting ranks at NewsNation affiliate WLW, with a 'Missing' series spotlighting cases just like hers.
'I know life would've probably been a little bit easier if I would've just stayed to myself, but I felt like this is what I'm supposed to do,' Berry said.
DeJesus and her cousin Sylvia Colon launched a non-profit, the Cleveland Family Center for Missing Children and Adults, which hosts families who are searching for loved ones and works with law enforcement to find them.
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'We know what it feels like because of our missing loved one, but it takes time,' Colon said. 'Even if the person's been missing for 24 hours, if it's a kid or an adult, I always say: Life really is never the same.'
For their contributions to public safety, Berry and DeJesus were given the Attorney General's Award.
It's believed they've had a role in bringing countless numbers of the missing back home.
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