Ariel Castro, charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape, would allegedly pretend to leave his Cleveland house and then punish his captives if they tried to escape. He trained them, through fear, to stop trying to break free.
CNN’s Pamela Brown reports that sources say Monday was the first opportunity Amanda Berry had to try to escape. She hit a breaking point and somehow knew Castro was gone from the house. She screamed for help, drawing the attention of neighbors who ran to the commotion and helped break through the front door so she could get out with her 6-year-old daughter.
Law enforcement sources also say that Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, the other two women in the house who has been missing for years, could have left with Berry but chose to stay behind. They had succumbed to their reality as prisoners.
