Three girls who went missing as teenagers were 'tied up with chains in basement dungeon for TEN YEARS' before escaping as three brothers arrested in Cleveland case

Three girls who went missing as teenagers have been found alive after spending a decade chained up in the dungeon of a house in Cleveland.
Amanda Berry, 26, and Gina DeJesus, 23, escaped from an Ohio house alongside a third woman identified as Michelle Knight, 32, yesterday.
The trio escaped after a neighbour heard Berry screaming for help when their captor left the house  and he helped break down the door.
Three brothers have been arrested in connection with the case - one has been identified as Ariel Castro, 52.

Shocking discovery: Amanda Berry now 26, (left) and Gina DeJesus (right) now 23,  were found alive in a house in Cleveland yesterday after being missing for 10 years.  Berry disappeared aged 16 in 2003, while DeJesus went missing at the age of 14 a year later

Reunited: Amanda Berry (centre) at the Cleveland Hospital alongside her emotional sister (left) and the daughter that she gave birth to during the 10 years she was held against her will

Scene: The women were helped out of this home on Seymour Avenue that belongs to Ariel Castro

When the neighbour helped Berry out of the house, she was holding a young child, and there were reportedly other children in the home.
Berry's relatives have now confirmed that one of the children in the house is her daughter that she gave birth to while being held against her will.
'Help me I'm Amanda Berry...I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for ten years and I'm here. I'm free now,' Berry is heard saying in the call to police that has been publicly released.

'I need them now before he gets back!' she said in the frantic phone call to 911, going on to identify her captor as Ariel Castro, a 52-year-old Hispanic man.
Castro has lived in the house since 1992 and he was arrested for domestic violence in 1993.
Sources close to local station WOIO are telling the station that the women were reportedly tied up during their captivity and police found chains hanging from one of the ceilings.
They also reported that there were signs that dirt had recently been moved in the backyard of the house, though police continue to investigate whether or not the dirt will lead to any new evidence in the case. Police will hold a press conference Tuesday morning to address the case.  

The search: FBI investigators remove a bag of evidence from the home that belongs to Ariel Castro, the man that Amanda Berry named during her frantic 911 call as being her captor

Horrific: Local reporters say that investigators found chains hanging from the ceiling in the house and the women were believed to have been tied up during their decade-long abduction

Berry disappeared on April 21, 2003, a day before her 17th birthday, and a year later then-14-year-old DeJesus went missing on April 2, 2004.
On Monday evening, DeJesus' cousin Sylvia Colon spoke to CNN, saying that the missing girl's mother Nancy Ruiz confirmed to relatives that Gina is alive and well in hospital.
'What a phenomenal mother's Day gift this is,' Ms Colon told the station.
Berry went missing shortly after she called her sister to say that she was getting a ride home from her job at Burger King. DeJesus went missing on her way home from school.
Michelle Knight went missing in 2000 at the age of 20-years-old.
They were found when a neighbor saw a woman, later identified as Amanda, screaming from inside a home in West Cleveland.  
'I heard screaming, I'm eating my McDonalds, I come outside and I see this girl going nuts trying to get out of the house and I go on the porch and she says "Help me get out! I've been in here a long time,"' neighbor Charles Ramsey told local News Net 5.
'I go on the porch and she said "Help me get out. I’ve been here a long time." I figure it was domestic violence dispute.'
'She comes out with a little girl and says ‘Call 911, my name is Amanda Berry’... When she told me, it didn’t register.'
'It didn't register until I got on the phone with 911 and I said "I'm calling 911 for Amanda Berry- I thought this girl is dead."

Before they went missing: Amanda Berry, pictured before her disappearance, was last seen leaving her job at Burger King as she told her sister that she was getting a ride home

'That girl Amanda told the police "I ain't the only one, there are some more girls up inside that house" so they went.'
The women were taken to MetroHealth Medical Center, as they are reportedly suffering from severe dehydration and slightly malnourished but alive.
Charles Ramsey said that he was shocked about the discovery because the man who owns the home- who is thought to be the kidnapper- did not stay hidden from those around him.
'I've been here a year. I barbeque with this dude, we eat ribs and what not and listen to salsa music.
Not a clue that that girl was in that house or that anyone else was in there with,' Charles said of Castro.

'He's somebody you look and then you look away because he's just doing normal stuff.
'You got some big testicles to pull this one off because we see this guy every day,' he told NewsNet5.

EARLIER FALSE ALARM: THE 2006 HOAX THAT RAISED HOPES

Two men arrested for questioning in the disappearance of DeJesus in 2004 were released from the city jail in 2006 after officers did not find her body during a search of the men's house.
One of the men was transferred to the Cuyahoga County Jail on unrelated charges, while the other was allowed to go free, police said.
In September 2006, police acting on a tip tore up the concrete floor of the garage and used a cadaver dog to search unsuccessfully for DeJesus' body.
Investigators confiscated 19 pieces of evidence during their search but declined to comment on the significance of the items then.                   --AP

Local news reporters told CNN that Castro is said to have worked as a bus driver for the Cleveland Metropolitan schools, though it is unclear whether that was the case when the women were kidnapped.
Crowds of Cleveland residents gathered at the police station and cheered as squad cars pulled into the station Monday night, and a similar crowd gathered outside of the hospital. 
The disappearances of Amanda and Gina captured the attention of the entire city for the past decade, as their relatives have continually held vigils and kept the story alive in the local press.

Amanda's mother Louwanna Miller, died in March 2006 after the years of her daughter's disappearance had taken a toll on her deteriorating health. Local news reports said that she 'died of a broken heart'.

Amanda's sister has continued to keep the case in the public's attention since their mother died, and she has worked closely with the DeJesus family.

Earlier in the case, DeJesus' mother Nancy Ruiz raised the alarm that her daughter was the victim of human trafficking. 
I always said it from the beginning; she was sold to the highest bidder,' Ms Ruiz said in April 2012.
Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson was the first public official to speak out about the case, confirming the identities of the three women.
'I am thankful that Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight have been found alive. We have many unanswered questions regarding this case and the investigation will be ongoing. Again, I am thankful that these three young ladies are found and alive,' he said.

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