Vanished Woman's 911 Call: 'I'm Here, I'm Free Now'

Police say Cleveland women were likely tied in captivity
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 7, 2013 1:36 AM CDT
Updated May 7, 2013 7:57 AM CDT
Cleveland: Frantic 911 Call Released, 3 Brothers Arrested
Amanda Berry, right, hugs her sister Beth Serrano after being reunited in a Cleveland hospital Monday May 6, 2013.   (AP Photo/Family Handout courtesy WOIO-TV)

Police have released a frantic 911 call made by one of three women found alive in a Cleveland home yesterday after disappearing a decade ago. "Help me, I am Amanda Berry," she tells police. "I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for 10 years, and I'm, I'm here, I'm free now." The AP has the entire transcript here. Police say the three women have now been released from the hospital—where Berry was photographed joyfully reuniting with her sister—and gone home with family. A 6-year-old child was also rescued, but police did not reveal the child's identity or relationship to anyone in the home; Radar describes her as Berry's daughter.

Three brothers, ages 50, 52, and 54, have been arrested, though only the middle brother, identified by neighbors as former school bus driver Ariel Castro, is believed to have lived at the home where the women were held captive. Authorities, who plan to hold a press conference on the case this morning, say the women were probably tied up during their years of captivity, the AP reports. A woman whose relatives live on the street tells the Plain Dealer that Castro typically parked his car behind the house, and would lock a gate before entering—through the back door. She described the home as always dark, with at least one window covered with boards. Click for more on how the women were able to escape. (More Amanda Berry stories.)

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