by John Glatt
After driving past the girls, Castro made a U-turn a few blocks away and headed back.
“As I turned around,” he said, “I noticed my daughter Arlene was now walking west on Lorain Avenue, and was by herself.”
Then Castro saw Gina walking east on Lorain Avenue, and pulled up beside her. He wound down his window and asked if she knew where Arlene was. Gina replied she was walking home, and Castro asked her to help him find her.
Gina recognized the middle-aged man as Arlene’s father, and got into the Jeep. Then as he started driving, he asked if she could help him move a speaker in his house. Gina agreed.
When they arrived at 2207 Seymour Avenue, Castro pulled into the driveway and led her in through the back door. Once inside the house, he took Gina upstairs, saying he no longer needed help with the speaker. He brought her into the bathroom and started looking at himself in the mirror. Suddenly, he asked Gina to show him “her privates.”
She became very uncomfortable and told him she wanted to leave. Castro said she could, but it would have to be through a different door than the one through which they had entered.
He then tricked her into his basement, where he attacked her. After putting plastic ties on her wrists and chaining her to the pole, he raped her. Gina screamed, as she desperately tried to fight him off.
When he was finished, he placed a motorcycle helmet over her head and left her there, chained to the pole, sobbing.
* * *
Upstairs, Michelle Knight heard Gina’s desperate screams for help and prayed. Earlier, he had come into her bedroom and told her that he had somebody in the house and to be quiet, so as not to scare her off.
“All I hear is fighting in the basement … and a girl screaming for help,” said Michelle. “I could hear things crash and I could hear someone screaming, ‘Get off of me! Get off of me!’ And nobody helps her.”
* * *
At 3:45 P.M., ten minutes after Gina usually arrived home, her mother, Nancy Ruiz, walked to the corner store to check if she had been there. Then she began calling around to Gina’s friends, who had not seen her.
At 5:09 P.M., Nancy reported her daughter missing to the Cleveland police, saying Gina’s behavior was out of character and she was concerned.
“Missing juvenile went to school and never returned home,” read the Cleveland police report. “Last seen by School, Wilbur Wright, after school let out.”
Nancy told police that her daughter was “normal and healthy” but “is mentally around the age of nine or ten years and attends special-ed classes.” She then gave officers a photograph of Gina.
Meanwhile a detective called around to all Cleveland hospitals and the morgue, but there was no record of Gina.
An investigator also interviewed Arlene Castro, who was the last person to see Gina.
“[Arlene] states missing person told her she was walking home,” read the police report. “Last seen by Castro, Arlene, of W. 110/Lorain. Unk. Destination.”
* * *
On Saturday morning, police stopped traffic along Lorain Avenue at West 105th Street, showing motorists a photograph of Gina DeJesus. And police bloodhounds sniffed the pay phone where Arlene Castro had last seen Gina for any clues. One of the dogs tracked Gina’s scent from the corner of West 105th Street to the end of the block on West 104th Street just past the pay phone, but then the trail went cold.
As Cleveland police blanketed the West Side searching for Gina, several police officers went to Seymour Avenue on Saturday morning to investigate a complaint of harassing telephone calls in an unrelated incident. They interviewed one of Ariel Castro’s neighbors at 2202 Seymour Avenue before leaving.
Around midday, Amanda Berry’s boyfriend, Danizo Diaz, left his house, to find it surrounded by Cleveland police. As police escorted him to a squad car for questioning, his neighbors applauded, thinking Gina’s kidnapper had been caught. But a few hours later Diaz was released. For the next few years, he would be stopped and questioned periodically about Amanda and Gina’s disappearances.
That afternoon, Gina’s family and friends posted fliers with her photograph all around Cleveland’s West Side, including one on a tree outside 2207 Seymour Avenue.
Community activist Khalid Samad said Ariel Castro helped in the search that day.
“He was friends with the [DeJesus] family,” said Samad. “When we went out to look for Gina, he helped pass out fliers.”
Late Saturday afternoon, Felix DeJesus was rushed to the emergency room with chest pains. He was kept in for observation and then released.
That night DeJesus family members gathered at Gina’s house to help print fliers and offer her parents support. Local councilman Zack Reed also visited the family, saying Cleveland needed to devise a game plan to protect children.
At 10:00 P.M. WEWS-TV news broke the story of Gina DeJesus’s disappearance, linking it to Amanda Berry’s.
“The fourteen-year-old Wilbur Wright student was last seen in the area Friday afternoon,” said a reporter, “this same neighborhood where Amanda Berry vanished almost one year ago.”
One of Amanda’s classmates said that she and her friends no longer walked around the West Side alone.
“I’m usually always with somebody,” said the unnamed friend. “I don’t go out at night by myself. Before I didn’t worry, but now I do. Scary, really scary.”
* * *
On Sunday, the FBI joined in the search for Gina DeJesus. That afternoon her parents set up a command post at their house. They distributed fliers to friends and family, who then left to hand them out in the street or staple them onto trees and utility poles. FBI agents searched Gina’s bedroom and questioned her parents. An FBI agent also interviewed Arlene Castro, who claimed to have been almost kidnapped three times, at her stepfather Fernando Colon’s house.
On Sunday afternoon Gina’s mother gave her first interview to Plain Dealer reporter Joan Mazzolini.
“I gave her the dollar twenty-five to catch the bus,” said Nancy, “because it was cold outside. But she has the tendency to walk home and use the money for [snacks].”
* * *
Ariel Castro began to grow paranoid in the weeks after Gina’s disappearance. He was convinced that one of the security cameras at Wilbur Wright Middle School had photographed him lurking around before he snatched Gina DeJesus. And he believed it was only a matter of time before police came to search 2207 Seymour Avenue.
Late Sunday night, he wrote a four-page handwritten confession, with numerous crossings-out. In it he claimed he was a “sexual predator,” while accusing his three victims of being responsible for their kidnappings.
CONFESSION AND DETAILS
Date 4-4-04
Page 1
To the best of my knowledge, I was born in P.R. I was abandoned by my father and later my mother. My grandma raised me. I was abused sexually by the son of Luis and Filia, his name is Pucho. He penetrated my rear a couple of times. I was 5 or 6 years old. I soon learned how to masturbate. I was interested in sex at a very young age. Sex has always been a too big part of my life. I married at age 20. I lived a normal life with my wife and children, but my marriage was a failure from the beginning. My mother was an abusive parent. Her ways of discipline were very bad. For this made me grow hatred for her. There were times I wished she would die. Anyway, my marriage was abusive also. My wife would hit on me and push me to the limit. I hit her back. She put me in jail only to go get me out and apologize to me. This happened a couple of times, but the name calling and arguments were always there. I tried to reason with her that the kids did not need to see or hear the arguments or fights. I felt bad to see my children frightened and scared. My wife always said she didn’t give a shit if they were [indecipherable] or not. The marriage lasted about twelve years. I always loved and still love my children.
Page 2
About six years ago my wife left for [another] man. I didn’t mind as long as my kids … And in a good home. This man did nothing [for the] children. I ke
pt taking this in, but [they were] better off with their mother. I [can’t] Understand why this man took the [trouble] To finish raising my kids when he knew [I was] In a relationship as a father. My ex wife has many problems with this [man and] just can’t get out of the relationship. I lived alone for the most part after my … Marriage. I had a good sex drive. I was in a relationship with a [indecipherable] woman I cared [indecipherable]. I met a woman at Family Dollar on Clark. The woman needed a ride somewhere. I [indecipherable] brought her to my home. Michelle has been there ever since, about two years. I got another opportunity to get another woman [indecipherable] in my van. This girl is Amanda [indecipherable]. On West 110 walking home a (short distance). I asked her if she needed a ride home and she said yes. I [indecipherable] brought her to my house. She has been there for about a year, smoking her pot cigarettes that I provide [indecipherable] These two women accepted [money] for sex. I treat them well and make sure they eat good.
Page 3
I don’t understand why I keep looking for women out in the street, as I already had two in my possession. One day I was driving down Lorrain Ave and near 105 a woman was walking. I asked her if she needed a ride. She agreed. I calmly drove her to my house. This girl is Georgina. I asked her to come inside, she said Yes. These women are here against their will because they made a mistake by getting in a car with a total stranger. I had no idea Gina was so young, she looks a lot older. Also not knowing she is the daughter of Felix, a school classmate of mine. The bottom line is, I am a sexual predator who needs help, but I don’t bother to get it. I live a private life. I function around others like a normal person. I’ve been having problems with my head for a long time. I feel depressed, dizzy and short term memory loss. I really [indecipherable] know what’s wrong with me. To the parents of these three women, I would like to say I’m very sorry. I am sick. Five years ago I was diagnosed with a cyst in my brain. I don’t [know if] this is what made me behave the way I do, not have any feelings for the bad things I have done. I can [indecipherable] the public, these three women are the only ones I have [done] harm to, holding them against their will. [indecipherable] When I wake up in the morning, I don’t feel like I’m really hear [sic]. For some reason I feel????trate. This is a big problem in my every day life. I want to put an end to my life and let the devil deal with me.
Page 4
I feel so bad about the age of Gina. I will admit I did molest her but did not rape her. I actually feel the closeness to her and her parents. I do not have the urge to touch her. I feel its [sic] wrong.
Anyway, my intentions are to let these women go, when I feel I have arranged everything, so my family knows what to do after I take my life. I have a Dollar Bank Account with about $10,875.21 (Ten Thousand Dollars. And I have cash—about Eleven Thousand in cash, 11,000, under the washer machine. That’s it. Do not look for any more money, Their [sic] isn’t anymore. (My family will need to know this.) I would like the money to go to the 3 victims. For they deserve every red cent of it. Again, I apologize (sorry) to every one this whole ordeal has affected.
To my children. Please be strong and make the right decisions. Just because you may think you know someone, do not get into their vehical [sic]. This was the case of Amanda and Gina.
Nilda, please do your best to insure my babies are safe. If possible move away, (far away).
As I write this letter on 4-4-04, 2:05 PM, my simptons [sic] are clearly bothering me (Dizzyness and not really feeling like I’m hear [sic]. Also Depression. I know I am sick (Mentally).
* * *
After finishing his confession, Castro folded it up and placed it in a drawer in his kitchen, where it would stay for the next nine years.
11
THE SEARCH
On Monday, April 5, more than fifty people marched to Cleveland City Hall in support of the DeJesus family. Then, at a city council meeting, the subject of Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry’s disappearances was raised.
“You should be concerned,” declared Councilman Matt Zone, who represented the district where both girls went missing. “We’ve had three abductions in recent months. Something needs to be done.”
Councilman Zack Reed called for council members, the police and school leaders to work together on a plan to make the streets of Cleveland safer for children.
“We must … get more eyes on the children as they walk to and from school,” he said. “And we must teach young people to walk in pairs or to find safe houses, if they feel they are in danger.”
Fifteen FBI agents were now working the Gina DeJesus case full-time, and the agency offered a reward for any information leading to her being found.
Special Agent Robert Hawk, who had led the search for Amanda Berry, was again in charge. He told the Plain Dealer that his men were now running down hundreds of leads, as well as interviewing Gina’s classmates and neighbors.
Back at West 71st Street, Felix DeJesus had turned his home into an unofficial search headquarters, as he and his wife Nancy coordinated scores of volunteers in the hunt for their daughter. They worked around the clock, feeding and handing out fliers to the helpers who were blanketing Cleveland with them.
One afternoon, Ariel Castro arrived at their house and hugged Nancy, offering his sympathy and help. He then left with a handful of fliers.
* * *
Gina DeJesus’s disappearance was now front-page news, leading off every local news program. And there was real fear on the streets of the West Side that no child was safe.
“They called it the Bermuda Triangle,” remembered Michelle McDowell, who lived nearby. “It was really awful just to think about, and I was very scared because of my stepdaughters.”
West Side resident Lupe Collins said the whole community was living in terror.
“There was a fear,” she said. “It was hard for us. [Everyone] was afraid to let their daughters walk to school. We didn’t know what was going on. Where did they go? How did they just vanish?”
The two girls’ disappearances had also become a hot political issue. On Tuesday morning, Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell and a deputation of city leaders arrived at the DeJesus house to comfort Gina’s parents. Outside on the lawn was a shrine to Gina, bedecked with photographs, yellow ribbons and religious symbols.
The mayor met with Felix and Nancy, who then joined her for a news conference at the First District Police Headquarters.
“I have a fourteen-year-old daughter myself,” Mayor Campbell told the press, “and I know a little bit about what fourteen-year-olds are like. Nobody’s going to get into any trouble. Just tell us what you know.”
A weary-looking Felix DeJesus then thanked the community for all its help and prayers to find his daughter.
“It’s been hard,” he said.
After the conference, the media were given a photograph showing the clothing Gina was wearing the day she disappeared.
That night, the six o’clock news led off with the latest on the search for Gina.
“By air. On ground. Every inch of Cleveland’s West Side is under the microscope,” said a reporter, “as investigators along with bloodhounds work around the clock to track this missing girl.”
An unnamed female volunteer was then interviewed, echoing the feelings of so many others moved by the terrible plight of the DeJesus family.
“I knew I had to come out,” she said, “because I know what they’re going through. [I] just hope this case ends with a safe return of a precious life.”
* * *
The search was also being closely followed at 2207 Seymour Avenue. Michelle Knight had immediately recognized Gina as the younger sister of her high school friend Mayra. But when she asked Ariel Castro if he had taken a fourteen-year-old girl, he denied it.
“He would come to my room [and] tell me, ‘I didn’t take her,’” said Michelle. “And I’ll look up at him and [say], ‘You’re a damn liar. I know you took that girl.’”
* * *
On Wednesday morning, Cleveland police roun
ded up every known sex offender living on the West Side, questioning them about Gina’s disappearance. Seven men were arrested on warrants for other offenses.
“We’re just trying to shake some trees,” Cleveland police Chief Deputy Charles Corrao told reporters. “I’m personally tired of these animals taking our children.”
Cleveland police also combed through desolate wasteland and parks, looking for clues. And the FBI collected security videos from stores near where Gina had last been seen, studying them frame by frame. But they did not examine video from security cameras in and around Wilbur Wright Middle School, as Castro had so feared.
That night more than five hundred worried parents packed the Wilbur Wright Middle School auditorium for a public meeting, where they were addressed by Cleveland police, and city and school officials.
“We have followed up every possible lead,” said Mayor Jane Campbell, “and will continue to do so. We still do not have a grip on where Gina is. We have to have every bit of information.”
At one point, several angry parents were ejected by police, after heckling the mayor for ignoring other cases of missing girls, including that of Amanda Berry. When the meeting continued, police officials appealed to parents to question their children closely for any information that could help the investigation.
In the days following Gina’s disappearance, there had been a flood of ghoulish rumors that Gina’s body had been found. These had so upset the family that Gina’s cousin Sylvia Colon made a public appeal for them to stop.
“We’re hearing them daily,” she told the Plain Dealer. “It’s been very difficult. Help us by not perpetuating those rumors. Stop spreading them.”
* * *
On Thursday, April 8, Gina DeJesus turned fifteen, and the DeJesus family organized a candlelight vigil the following night, at the corner of West 105th Street and Lorain Avenue, where she was last seen.
