{"id":25284,"date":"2013-05-08T20:56:36","date_gmt":"2013-05-09T00:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/?p=25284"},"modified":"2013-05-08T20:58:27","modified_gmt":"2013-05-09T00:58:27","slug":"update-cleveland-cops-ignored-neighbors-calls-reports-castros-house-of-horrors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/05\/update-cleveland-cops-ignored-neighbors-calls-reports-castros-house-of-horrors.html","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE – Cleveland Cops Ignored Neighbors Calls Reports of Evil at Castro’s House of Horrors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cleveland kidnapping house of horrors: Neighbors reported seeing naked women crawling on leashes, a woman with a baby pounding on a window for help … but cops walked away 3 times<\/h1>\n

.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Neighbors in the West Cleveland neighborhood where three women were rescued after a decade of imprisonment said they had called police 3 times to report strange behavior at the house, but cops never went inside and never followed up.<\/h2>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"2207<\/a>
2207 Seymour Avenue, Castro’s House of Horrors where 3 woman were held captive for 10-12 years<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What the neighbors saw was terrifying and dehumanizing: Naked women on dog leashes, crawling in the dirt. A lady clutching an infant and pounding on a window for help.<\/p>\n

Yet the gut-wrenching reports couldn\u2019t persuade the Cleveland cops to go inside the rundown house \u2014 where three women kidnapped between 2002 and 2004 were held hostage by the vile homeowner, officials said.<\/p>\n

Police banged on the door of the two-story home three times between 2004 and 2011, but never followed up or uncovered the continuing nightmare on Seymour Ave., according to neighbors and authorities.<\/p>\n

The hostages were likely on the other side of the screen door on the wooden porch each time the cops arrived, authorities said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t take it seriously,\u201d said Elsie Cintron, who lived three doors down from the ramshackle residence where the three victims finally broke free Monday evening.<\/p>\n

The good news of the women\u2019s unlikely flight to freedom was undercut by questions about how authorities failed to find three missing women living under their noses \u2014 especially after repeated calls from neighbors.<\/p>\n

Cleveland police insisted Tuesday night that \u201conly two calls for service from police are shown at that address.\u201d<\/p>\n

One call was made by the homeowner, Ariel Castro, reporting a fight in the street, and the other was related to Castro and his duties as a bus driver, officials said.<\/p>\n

But neighbors told a different story.<\/p>\n

On one occasion in the spring of 2012, four local senior citizens called police \u2014 and waited two hours in vain for authorities to appear at the home of Ariel Castro, 52, a local bus driver.<\/p>\n

Neighbor Israel Lugo, 39, recounted how his sister spotted the desperate woman with the baby banging on the upstairs window in November 2011.<\/p>\n

He called police after his shaken sibling shared the chilling tale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey knocked on the door a good 20 times,\u201d said Lugo, a local contractor. \u201cThere was no answer, so they left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cintron said her daughter spied a naked woman crawling through the backyard several years ago, yet cops turned up nothing unusual at the home.<\/p>\n

The quartet of elderly women spied three naked women with dog chains and leashes around their necks in the backyard of Castro\u2019s home, Lugo said. Three men were with the women, who called the police.<\/p>\n

\u201cCops never showed up,\u201d Lugo said.<\/p>\n

In January 2004, cops first visited the house when bus driver Castro was accused of leaving a child aboard his vehicle.<\/p>\n

But nobody answered the door at that time, and no charges were ever filed.<\/p>\n

Jannette Gomez, who lives on the block, said she was second-guessing everything since the hostage trio emerged from the home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank God they\u2019re out of there,\u201d said Gomez, who moved into the area 40 years ago. \u201cBut I have to think, \u2018Oh, my God, what if we had been nosy?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Juan Perez, 27, lives two doors down and said he\u2019s known Ariel Castro for 22 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t lie: I feel a little guilt,\u201d he said. \u201cI should have spotted it. I\u2019m all torn up. He had the perfect mask to hide that monster.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cleveland<\/a>
Cleveland resident Pedro Castro watched police excavate empty lot 2012 looking for Amanda Berry – IS THIS THE SAME PEDRO CASTRO WHO IS BEING HELD IN A CLEVELAND JAIL NOW ARRESTED AS A SUSPECT IN THE HEINOUS CRIME OF KIDNAPPING AND HOLDING BERRY CAPTIVE FOR 10 YEARS?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to neighbors, Berry\u2019s daughter was wearing a black wig, ballet dress and boots when she and her mother kicked their way through the front door of Castro\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

Officials refused to identify the little girl\u2019s father, although three brothers were arrested in the bizarre case: Ariel Castro and siblings Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50.<\/p>\n

Paternity tests were expected to determine which of the men was the dad. Ariel was seen playing with the little girl at a park near his home Sunday, Lugo said.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018It\u2019s my girlfriend\u2019s daughter,\u2019 he said,\u201d Lugo recalled. \u201cShe looked happy. They were playing like a regular Sunday. I didn\u2019t think nothing of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authorities were investigating whether the three women were kept in the home as sex slaves by their captors. All three were likely tied up for years during their captivity, officials said.
\nLaw enforcement officers stand watch in front of a house on Seymour Ave. in Cleveland.<\/p>\n

Forced sex resulted in up to five pregnancies among the victims, WKYC-TV of Cleveland reported, citing \u201cseveral police sources.\u201d That report could not be confirmed by officials Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

\"Google<\/a>
Google Map image showing Ariel Castro’s house where he kept Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cleveland Safety Director Martin Flask said Tuesday morning there were no reports about criminal activity at the home. But officials were still combing through police, fire and EMT databases.<\/p>\n

More creepy details emerged Tuesday about Ariel Castro after his arrest in the shocking case. The prime suspect in the three abductions reportedly attended a pair of vigils for the victims while holding them hostage.<\/p>\n

His brother Pedro, as he watched authorities dig up a vacant lot last year in a hunt for Berry\u2019s body, dismissed the search as pointless.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a waste of money,\u201d he told a local television station.<\/p>\n

There were also connections between Ariel Castro and the DeJesus family.<\/p>\n

Castro knew the girl\u2019s father, and other relatives once lived on the same block where the girl was held captive, said neighbor Javier Marti.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat makes it even more wrong, more shocking,\u201d said Marti, 51. \u201cI never in a million years would think he would do something like that. It\u2019s hard to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three brothers remained behind bars Tuesday, although officials had yet to announce any charges.<\/p>\n

Normal protocol calls for Cleveland suspects to be charged within 36 hours, but a judge has extended that period to 48 for the case, police said Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

FBI investigators descended on the two-story house near downtown Cleveland, scouring the property and its interior for evidence.<\/p>\n

During a morning news conference, emotional law enforcement members offered their thanks for a happy ending to the sad case.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrayers have been answered,\u201d said Steve Anthony, head of the Cleveland FBI office. \u201cThe nightmare is over. These three young ladies have provided us with the ultimate definition of perseverance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath said he believed all three women were held captive in the Cleveland home since they were kidnapped.<\/p>\n

The terrified woman was wearing pajamas and a pair of sandals when she made her escape, according to one neighbor.<\/p>\n

Aurora Marti, 75, was sitting on her porch when a shaking and weeping Berry bolted from the home \u2014 and screamed her name at the top of her lungs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmanda was hysterical, screaming,\u201d said Marti. \u201cShe was weak and skinny, and she had a little girl with her. She was crying and scared. I felt so sorry for that baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vision stuck with another neighbor, Ana Tejada, who was unable to sleep or eat the next day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat baby was dirty,\u201d said Tejada, 51. \u201cI am a mother myself. I can\u2019t imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police arrived at the scene Monday evening and led the other two women outside. Both had blankets wrapped around their heads before cops whisked them away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat these young girls went through, if you had seen them last night, you\u2019d have nothing but compassion and love in your heart for them,\u201d said Cleveland Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe join the community in celebrating the safe return of these three women,\u201d said hospital spokeswoman Tina Shaerban Arundel.<\/p>\n

The Castro family was sent reeling by the arrests, and the three women reunited with their families while remaining far from the media glare.<\/p>\n

At the home of the DeJesus family, a sign festooned with dozens of balloons declared, \u201cWelcome home Gina.\u201d Her aunt, Sandra Ruiz, said the scene inside the home was intense when the youth walked inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose girls, those women, are so strong.\u201d said Ruiz. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve done in 10 years is nothing compared to what those women have done in 10 years to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The failure to find the three missing women was reminiscent of the 2009 case in which cops were criticized after 11 women\u2019s bodies were found in the Cleveland yard of killer Anthony Sowell.<\/p>\n

Tina Miller, a cousin of Berry, was among those who turned out just last month to mark the 10th anniversary of her abduction.<\/p>\n

The case never dropped off the radar of law enforcement, either. Investigators twice launched digs in the hunt for Berry\u2019s body after receiving tips in the case.<\/p>\n

Jessica Aponce, 24, was walking home with DeJesus before her teenage pal disappeared.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe called her mom, and told her mom she was on the way home, and that\u2019s the last time I seen her,\u201d said Aponce. \u201cI just can\u2019t wait to see her. I\u2019m so happy she\u2019s alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ariel<\/a>
Ariel Castro pictured – Suspect in Amanda Berry’s and Gina DeJesus’ abduction (child unidentified)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Neighbors described Ariel Castro as a loner who never allowed anyone inside his two-story home, and kept all the doors locked and shades down.<\/p>\n

His daughter Angie declined to discuss her father\u2019s arrest, but one of her Cleveland neighbors said the Castro clan was a scary bunch.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looks like an angel, but he\u2019s not,\u201d said Adriana Castro, 57. \u201cI will never forget his face. All of the family is screwed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ariel Castro\u2019s neighbors had little nice to say about the suspect who lived so comfortably with his secret.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere ain\u2019t a place warm enough for that maggot,\u201d said next-door neighbor Greg Schultz. \u201cHe\u2019s a pretty sneaky son of a bitch. I\u2019ve been there a year, they\u2019ve been there 10 years, and I never saw a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more: http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/news\/crime\/cleveland-kidnap-house-horrors-article-1.1337965#ixzz2Sk5Ihmbv<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cleveland kidnapping house of horrors: Neighbors reported seeing naked women crawling on leashes, a woman with a baby pounding on a window for help … but cops walked away 3 times . Neighbors in the West Cleveland neighborhood where three women were rescued after a decade of imprisonment said they had called police 3 times…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":403,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3665],"tags":[8229,8222],"class_list":["post-25284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kidnapping","tag-2207-seymour-street-in-cleveland-oh","tag-gina-dejesus-amanda-berry-michelle-knight-found-alive"],"yoast_head":"\nUPDATE - Cleveland Cops Ignored Neighbors Calls Reports of Evil at Castro's House of Horrors - Watchwoman on the Wall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/05\/update-cleveland-cops-ignored-neighbors-calls-reports-castros-house-of-horrors.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UPDATE - Cleveland Cops Ignored Neighbors Calls Reports of Evil at Castro's House of Horrors - Watchwoman on the Wall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cleveland kidnapping house of horrors: Neighbors reported seeing naked women crawling on leashes, a woman with a baby pounding on a window for help … but cops walked away 3 times . 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