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Missing Cleveland Women Found Alive after Ten Years
Aired May 07, 2013 - 23:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
PIERS MORGAN: This is PIERS MORGAN LIVE. It's midnight on the East Coast, 9pm out west.
We've got breaking news in Cleveland and it's truly unbelievable. Three young women missing for a decade are found tonight alive and together in a home just blocks from where they disappeared. The police are holding a news conference tomorrow morning, but this is what we know right now.
Amanda Berry was 16 when she vanished in 2003. Gina DeJesus was 14 when she was disappeared in 2004, and Michelle Knight is 20 when she went missing reportedly in 2002. They're all in good medical condition tonight. Police stated that three people are under arrest. They are all said to be brothers but only one of them lived at the home where the women were found. He's being identified as Ariel Castro, a 52-year-old former bus driver. Just a short time ago, the police spoke about the suspect. Listen to this.
DEPUTY CHIEF ED TOMBA: The three young ladies were taken to a metro hospital where they were treated by the hospital staff there. Currently, we have three brothers that are under arrest ages 50, 52 and 54 are being held in the city jail awaiting charges that charging will come probably within the next 36 hours.
PIERS MORGAN: Now in the phone is Sarah Shookman. She's a reporter with WKYC in Cleveland.
Sarah, I know that you've covered the story for a long time with one of your colleagues, a pretty dramatic day.
SARAH SHOOKMAN: Absolutely, Piers. We are all still shaking our heads in disbelief. Our phones have not stopped ringing here at WKYC and really just a miracle here in Cleveland tonight.
PIERS MORGAN: In terms of what we know right now, these three brothers are in custody. We know that one is Ariel Castro. We assume the other two are also called Castro. What do we know about it? Did -- are they all suspected of being involved in the plot to keep these women in this house?
SARAH SHOOKMAN: At this point, we don't know much, Piers. Police are not confirming any information about the suspect. We do know that Ariel Castro, 52-year-old was the home owner of the house where these three women were found this afternoon. They did get search warrants this afternoon and continue to search into this evening at that home. So we'll expect to hear much more about that tomorrow morning at the press conference.
PIERS MORGAN: Well, you've spoken today -- tonight I believe to Ariel Castro's son, Anthony. His first name is also Ariel. And you cleared up a bit of a mystery about an article that was written a few years ago about the disappearance of Gina. Tell me about this.
SARAH SHOOKMAN: Yes. This 2004 Plain Press article just a local newspaper here written by Ariel Castro was certainly circulating online.
Piers, as you know that name and the idea of the suspect is this case having written an article about this Gina DeJesus's disappearance has really got everyone's attention.
So I actually found Ariel who goes by Anthony, his middle name on Facebook, and asked him if he could confirm that he wrote the article. I had talked to Chuck Hoven. He's the editor of the Plain Press now and he was at that time back in 2004 who confirmed that Ariel was a college student at the time and that he did the article as part of class assignment.
So, Anthony Castro told me that, yes, he did write the article while he was a student at Bowling Green State University here in Ohio. And I asked him what he thought of the girls being located and he said he was stunned that something like this could possibly happen. He said, "He's my dad. I don't know whether I should say anything else other than this is beyond comprehension."
And I confirmed again with him, my -- is just in disbelief that his father was the one who had been charged and he said, he didn't -- he wanted to talk to somebody but not a news reporter. So he wouldn't answer any of my questions until he could figure out how his family should proceed but he himself said he is truly stunned right now figuring this all out.
PIERS MORGAN: I was surprised. Absolutely extraordinary. I want to play now the 911 call that was made by Amanda Berry who was found missing for nearly a decade. What she says is extraordinary. Listen to this.
AMANDA BERRY: Help me, I'm Amanda Berry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need police, fire or ambulance?
AMANDA BERRY: I need police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, and what's going on there?
AMANDA BERRY: I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for 10 years and I'm here, I'm free now.
MALE: Okay. And what's your address? Tell me --
AMANDA BERRY: I can't hear you. MALE: It looks like your phone needs some --
AMANDA BERRY: I'm using his phone.
MALE: Okay, stay there with those neighbors, and talk to the police when they get there.
AMANDA BERRY: Okay.
MALE: Okay. Talk to the police as soon as they get there.
AMANDA BERRY: Okay. Hello?
MALE: Yeah, talk to the police as soon as they get there.
AMANDA BERRY: Okay. I'm -- I mean right now, I need them now --
MALE: We'll get -- as soon as we get the car open.
AMANDA BERRY: No, I need them now, before he gets back.
MALE: All right, we're sending them, okay?
AMANDA BERRY: Okay, I mean like right now.
MALE: Who's the guy -- who's the guy here on charge -- who's the guy who went out?
AMANDA BERRY: His name--
MALE: All right, how old is he?
AMANDA BERRY: He's like 52.
MALE: All right and I'll--
AMANDA BERRY: I'm Amanda Berry, I've been on the news for the last ten years.
MALE: Okay, I got that. I already--And you said, what was his name again? And is he white, black or Hispanic?
AMANDA BERRY: Hispanic.
MALE: What he's wearing?
AMANDA BERRY: I don't know 'cause he's not here right now, that's why I got away.
MALE: But when he left, what was he wearing?
AMANDA BERRY: I don't know --
MALE: The police are on their way.
AMANDA BERRY: Okay. MALE: Talk to them when they get there, okay?
AMANDA BERRY: I need -- okay.
MALE: I told you they're on their way, talk to them when they get there, okay?
AMANDA BERRY: I would. Okay.
MALE: Thank you.
AMANDA BERRY: Bye.
PIERS MORGAN: Still the 911 call there from Amanda Berry who's finally been found after 10 years missing in Cleveland. Joining me now on the phone is John Walsh from the host of America's Most Wanted. John, we spoke earlier, it really is a quite dramatic and remarkable story.
JOHN WALSH: It is incredible Piers and you and I were talking about it earlier and I said that there are two heroes tonight. You can hear the desperation and the terror in Amanda Berry's calls to 911.
And how was she able to call that she somehow got her hand out that door in her head and Charles Ramsey was walking by and he had the guts. You've seen that tape of him talking 10 times. He said, "I'm a black man. It's a white woman calling for help. I don't know if it's a domestic abuse situation." But he had the guts to go up on that porch and help that woman escape. She's a hero. Charles Ramsey is a hero.
PIERS MORGAN: Let me stop you there, John. I want to actually play the interviews conducted with Charles Ramsey. This man you rightly call a hero. Listen to this.
CHARLES RAMSEY: I heard her screaming. I'm eating my McDonald's. I come outside and I see this girl going nuts trying to get out of her house. So I go on the porch -- I go on the porch and she says, "Help me get out. I've been here a long time." So you know, I figured this is a domestic violence, it's abuse. And she comes out with a little girl and she says, "Call 911. My name is Amanda Berry."
PIERS MORGAN: Charles Ramsey is a neighbor who basically found these missing girls. A true American hero and we also have a picture as the first picture of one of the prime suspects. This is Ariel Castro. He and two of his brothers are in police custody tonight. And police having declared that they're expecting to make some charges in the next 36 hours. Back to you, John. The reports are coming out. All of these women were kept tied up in this house. We don't know if all three brothers were involved but it certainly looks that way, isn't it?
JOHN WALSH: It does because you and I were talking about it earlier. I kept wondering how could one guy keep three women from somehow getting loose in almost all the cases I've been involved in whether you know, a house of horrors or there's somebody involved, you know like, you know, we were talking about Elizabeth Smart. That horrible guy had his crazy wife is helping him take care of Elizabeth Smart and keeping her for breaking away. In many, many cases, I've been involved where there is a full conspirator.
But this makes sense because these three guys, it looks allegedly kept these women for ever breaking lose and tonight, three adult women and it looks as though a child that may have been fathered by this pervert or his brothers were safe tonight, Piers. It's just an incredible ending to a terrible nightmare for this family.
PIERS MORGAN: And certainly, John, stay with me for a moment if you may. Joining me now is Cleveland Councilwoman, Dona Brady who's very close to family of Amanda Berry and indeed the case itself. Welcome to you, Dona. What is your reaction to this? You know the family. You knew Amanda's mother. Must be pretty emotional night for you.
DONA BRADY: Yes, Piers. It's a very emotional night for me.
It's wonderful news that Amanda and Gina and Michelle have been found. It was something that Amanda's mother, you know, would -- I wish she were here today. I was very, very close to the family and I spent many, many hours with Louwana Miller who is Amanda Berry's mother and also I got very close to Amanda's sister, Beth.
They all live in the same house in my ward. And so, you know, I spent a lot of time with them and Louwana, Amanda's mother never ever believed anything but that Amanda was alive and that she had been kidnapped.
PIERS MORGAN: Just to remind you viewers who are tuning in perhaps now, Amanda Berry was 16 when she was kidnapped. She was about to be 17 the next day and she'd just gone home from working at Burger King. She'd gone home to get her presents. She'd gone home to get her birthday dress that she'd picked out particularly and she never actually got home. That was the last that her family saw her for a decade.
And her mother, Louwana, a friend of Dona Brady, I'm talking to now, a councilwoman from the area tragically died of a heart attack in 2006. Many people are saying Dona, that Louwana basically died of a broken heart. Was that you're reading of it?
DONA BRADY: Yes. Louwana did die of a broken heart.
You know, I spent a lot of time with her and the thing that was so frustrating to me was this. You know, she was just beyond being able to be broadcast as an AMBER Alert which was very, very frustrating to us because I think that had the AMBER Alert didn't effect for Amanda, there's a possibility that she could have been found.
Her mother Louwana was very adamant and so is -- that the -- that Amanda had a very regimented schedule. She went to work. Before she left for work, she only walked two blocks to go home. She told her mother when she was on her way home and, you know, and in this particular night, she was on her way home and called back and said, "Oh, I got a ride. I'll be home in a minute." And they never saw her again.
That was her birthday and her mother would say to me over and over again. "Mandy would never do this. Mandy's presents were on her bed. Her new dress that she was going to wear for her birthday was -- was laying on her bed. We were all waiting for her to come home and she didn't come home. It was not like her." She was adamant, adamant that Amanda would never just run away or anything else that -- she was adamant that she has been kidnapped, that she has been abducted. And there's nothing -- there was -- this was totally unusual for Amanda Berry.
PIERS MORGAN: Well, thank God it's ended in the happy way that has although tragically not in time for Amanda's mother to know that. But, Dona Brady thank you very much for joining me.
DONA BRADY: Oh, thank you so much and I appreciate it.
PIERS MORGAN: Obviously very mixed emotions and we've known that Amanda's mother who died of a broken heart so many say. John Walsh, you've been in the awful position of loosing a child.
Clearly, Amanda Berry isn't dead. She's alive. But her mother will never know that. She died as all her friends of a broken heart.
JOHN WALSH: People don't realize tears, what this does the families and the not knowing. I have met thousands of parents of missing children. I've met many, many parents who said, my daughter was 19, 18, 17. Law enforcement said, "She's run away. I know she hasn't." There are so much collateral damage when these perverts take someone and in this case probably kept them as sex slaves locked in a house for 10 years.
So, for those families to know that these girls are alive, yes, they're going to need counseling for years. I would say to the families, don't talk to the press. Get counseling. Get psychiatric therapy. You've been in a house of horrors for 10 years and but these families had -- now know, Piers, they know the end to this story.
But everybody keep saying how do these guys hide in plain site and I always have said for years, it's not the pervert under the bridge with the trench coat, it's the creep next door, the guy who is hiding in plain site that is so cunning enough to get away with this and lucky enough to get away with it.
But, thank God Charles Ramsey stepped up to the plate tonight. Amanda Berry made a desperate attempt to save her life, two other women and that child, and there's a happy ending to the story. It's just incredible and I hope those guys if they're guilty I know we have to say alleged, Piers, but somebody did something horribly wrong and kept these women prisoners for 10 years. I hope they get every ounce that they deserve and burn in hell for the rest of their life.
PIERS MORGAN: John Walsh, you've been a terrific contributor all night. Thank you very much indeed. We're going to leave it with them, we really appreciate it.
JOHN WALSH: Thank you, Piers. This is a great night for those families and those women.
PIERS MORGAN: And certainly is. John, thanks again. When we come back more on this extraordinary breaking story from Cleveland, three women found alive after missing for a decade.
As we go to a break, we want to bring you reaction from two cousins of Amanda Berry. Watch this.
FEMALE 1: When I first about the, and then I was shock. I did the-- the whole time down here, but now I'm just excited. I'm excited to see her, excited to hold here. I am excited to squeeze here. Excited to tell here how much I love her and miss her. We're just so excited and happy.
FEMALE 2: What would you tell her if you can tell her anything right now?
FEMALE 3: That we love here and we missed her for 10 whole years and I thought about her everyday. And I knew she would come. I knew she would come home.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DR. GERALD MALONEY: Currently, they are safe. We're in the process of evaluating their medical needs. They appear to be in fair condition at the moment.
PIERS MORGAN: More of the breaking story you're following all night, that's Dr. Gerald Maloney stating the condition of the three missing women found safe in a home in Cleveland this evening. Police has taken three suspects, all brothers into custody. Back with me now is Marc Klaas, her daughter Polly was abducted in 1993, also with me, Lisa Bloom, legal analyst of awo.com. Welcome to you both.
Marc, we spoke earlier about it. It really is a quite extraordinary situation where you have three completely separate kidnappings of young women, one aged 14, one 16 and one 20. And here, they all get brought together either by one man or maybe three -- three are in custody now. What do you make of it if somebody has been through the agony and torment of having a child abducted?
MARC KLAAS: Sure. Well Piers, we've talked about this a little bit there in the other segments this evening. There is a history of children being kidnapped in groups or not kidnapped in groups but being taken by the same predator. Kenneth Parnell did it to Ken Stayner and -- to Steven Stayner and then Timmy White back in the '70s. A guy named Devlin did it to Shawn Hornbeck and another little boy in the 2000s, and then there was this case of three kids. Hopefully, these kids were able to comfort each other in their victimization because I think one thing we have to remember is that these children have suffered tremendously, they have been victimized for most of their lives, certainly their adult lives, and they're going to require a lot of help to get through this and to put their lives back together again. So we need to keep them in our hearts and prayers. PIERS MORGAN: And Lisa Bloom, it's obviously going to unravel, I guess the details to the police of having a conference tomorrow morning and we'll know more. But on the face of it, an absolutely heinous crime not withstanding the fact that it ended happily when none of these women being killed. But in terms of the way that this person or persons was or were able to keep these women so close to where they were all taken away. But for 10 years, without any kind of investigation tracking him down, what do you make of that? Should we be thinking pretty critical things now of the police and the investigators?
LISA BLOOM: Well, such an important point Piers and I'm struck by comments that were made very recently by Elizabeth Smart. She was a young woman who is abducted in Utah a few years ago. She was held captive for nine months. She had many opportunities to escape, she didn't take them. Ultimately, thank goodness she was saved.
And when she spoke recently at a sex trafficking conference, she spoke out against shaming women who are sexually abused. And she said that because she had been raped, she felt she was like a used piece of chewing gum because that was the kind of sex education that she had gotten both at home and at school. She felt used. She felt dirty. She said, "I felt like I had no values. There was no point in me running away."
Now, I don't know if that's what happened to these three young women but I do know that it's hard to keep three people tied down for 10 years. And most of these guys used that kind of psychological weapon against women. Teaching them that they are no good, they're used up, that they're sexually debased. And I hope that's not what happens here. I heard so much power in Amanda on that 911 tape, trying to take back her power, trying to get away a thing. "I'm free now", that's very encouraging. But we have to be careful not to just say while they're all okay now because they're physically okay. As Mark points out, they got a long way to go.
PIERS MORGAN: Absolutely. Mark, would you -- I'll start to be asking you some pretty tough questions of the police for the fact that this has all happened literally a few blocks away from this -- why these girls were taken which is as (inaudible) was saying a classic pedophile operation, the kind of thing that many sex offenders would do, they would stay in the area.
MARC KLAAS: Yes, and I think there's -- all of these cases point out some important factors. Number one, it's almost impossible for a victim of the stranger abduction to rise to the threshold of an AMBER Alert. Simply the information doesn't exist that needs to exist for an AMBER Alert to be called. So I hope that somebody will do something about modifying this so that law enforcement can based -- make a judgment based on best information as opposed to a very strict criteria.
The other thing, and we see this time and time again, is that kidnappings are local events that often times when the children are found alive, they will be found within proximity of where they were kidnapped. Now, sure, the law enforcement is going to have an awful lot of questions to answer as this thing moves forward. There's no question about that when there's somebody's close (inaudible) territory.
PIERS MORGAN: Mark, I'm going to stop you there. I'm going to have to stop you there, Mark, just briefly. I'll come back in a moment. We have now got the uncle of the three brothers here in custody. It's Julio Castro. Mr. Castro, can you hear me?
JULIO CASTRO: Yes.
PIERS MORGAN: Mr. Castro, I wonder if you can give me your reaction for the fact that your three nephews are all in police custody tonight and the suspicion is that they have been involved in the kidnapping of these three young women.
JULIO CASTRO: It is something that is nerve-wrecking. I was very surprised to hear that my nephews had done -- had done something -- just something like that.
PIERS MORGAN: When did you last three the -- see these three brothers?
JULIO CASTRO: Well, I don't -- I saw a couple weeks ago waiting for the boys but Ariel and O'neil (ph) I haven't seen for a while. Well, it's been five or six years.
PIERS MORGAN: Right. So you saw one of the brothers two weeks ago, you say?
JULIO CASTRO: Yeah, about two weeks ago.
PIERS MORGAN: Clearly it's an astonishing development for your family that this has happened. Did you ever go to this house where these women were being held?
JULIO CASTRO: No, no.
PIERS MORGAN: What is your reaction to the fact that these three brothers have all been arrested tonight? You sound astonished.
JULIO CASTRO: Stunning, the word terrible.
PIERS MORGAN: Is there anything that you can think of in the upbringing or the background or incidents that happened to them that could possibly have led them to want to do an act like this?
Julio Castro: Well, I know that the two of them, Ariel and O'neil (ph) need to drink a lot and I know that they still do but they're almost never a big drinker.
PIERS MORGAN: I can hear that you've -- I think you got a phone going off there Mr. Castro. Do you plan to see the brothers in custody tomorrow?
JULIO CASTRO: No, no, I never want to see them again.
PIERS MORGAN: Do you know if either of their parents are still alive?
JULIO CASTRO: Pardon me?
PIERS MORGAN: Are their parents still alive, the three brothers?
JULIO CASTRO: No.
PIERS MORGAN: Both their parents are dead?
JULIO CASTRO: Pardon me?
PIERS MORGAN: I'm asking you if the parents, the mother and father, of the three nephews -- of the three brothers in police custody, are their parents, their mother and father still alive?
JULIO CASTRO: Well, I know the father was -- the father was my brother and then now the mother, we worked together but I don't know her address.
PIERS MORGAN: But as far as you're aware they're still alive?
JULIO CASTRO: Yeah, the mother is still alive. Their father passed in 2004.
PIERS MORGAN: I see, I see. Mr. Castro, thank you very much indeed for calling me.
JULIO CASTRO: All right, thank you.
PIERS MORGAN: It was Julio Castro who's the uncle of three brothers who are in custody tonight in connection with the apparent kidnapping of the three women a decade ago in Cleveland. When we come back, much more on this extraordinary breaking story, three women found alive after missing for a decade, quite remarkable.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST: All right. Now new details on the breaking news out of Cleveland. Three women missing for a decade found alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN (voice-over): Amanda Berry was 16 when she vanished in 2004. Gina DeJesus was 14 when she disappeared in 2004 and Michelle Knight was 20 when she went missing in 2002.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: They were all discovered in one house in the city. The owner of the house, Ariel Castro, is under arrest tonight. So are his two brothers. I want you to hear again the 9-1-1 call from Amanda Berry. This is what she told police.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cleveland 9-1-1. What do you need? AMANDA BERRY, KIDNAPPING SURVIVOR: Help me. I'm Amanda Berry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need police, fire, ambulance?
BERRY: I need police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, and what's going on there?
BERRY: I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for 10 years, and I'm, I'm here, I'm free now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, and what's your address?
BERRY: 2207 Seymour Avenue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 2207 Seymour. Looks like you're calling me from 2210.
BERRY: Huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like you're calling me from 2210.
BERRY: I can't hear you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like you're calling me from 2210 Seymour.
BERRY: I'm across the street; I'm using the phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, stay there with those neighbors. Talk to police when they get there.
OK, talk to police when they get there.
BERRY: OK. Hello?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, talk to the police when they get there.
BERRY: OK (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to send them as soon as we get a car open.
BERRY: No, I need them now before he gets back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right; we're sending them, OK?
BERRY: OK, I mean, like ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's the guy you're trying -- who's the guy who went out?
BERRY: Um, his name is Ariel Castro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. How old is he?
BERRY: He's like 52. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And --
BERRY: I'm Amanda Berry. I've been on the news for the last 10 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got, I got that, dear. (Inaudible). And, you say, what was his name again?
BERRY: Ariel Castro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And is he white, black or Hispanic?
BERRY: Hispanic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's he wearing?
BERRY: I don't know, because he's not here right now. That's why I ran away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he left, what was he wearing?
BERRY: Who knows (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police are on their way; talk to them when they get there.
BERRY: Huh? I -- OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told you they're on their way; talk to them when they get there, OK.
BERRY: All right, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
BERRY: 'Bye.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
MORGAN: The amazing 9-1-1 call there from Amanda Berry, one of the three women who have been found after 10 years, believed to have been kidnapped and held captive in a house all together, although all kidnapped separately.
And the name that she bleeped out or we bleeped out for legal reasons earlier can now be confirmed as Ariel Castro, the man whose picture you're looking at there. He is 52. Until recently he was a bus driver in Cleveland and he's been arrested along with two of his brothers.
And we should know more tomorrow morning. There's a press conference 9:00 am Eastern, we believe, involving the Cleveland police. We should know a lot more than we do now about that part of the investing.
Joining me now on the phone is Peter Krause (ph). He's the report for the "Cleveland Plain Dealer," that newspaper.
Welcome to you again, Peter. Such a dramatic night for everyone in Cleveland.
What's been the mood of the people there?
PETER KRAUSE (PH), "CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER": Oh, it's been unbelievable. I mean, it's such a surreal development, you know, the idea that these three women, you know, two of them teenagers at the time they disappeared. Everybody, you know, nobody thought that they would ever be seen alive again.
The fact that they were found alive and that they appear to be in reasonably good condition, that this story has an incredibly happy ending, it's just -- it's surreal. The neighborhood where this all took place, there were hundreds of people out in the streets, very happy, people honking horns. It was a very joyous occasion actually.
MORGAN: We're getting various details about one of the suspects, Ariel Castro, who is being held along with his two brothers. We confirmed from his uncle, Julio (ph), there that the mother is still alive, we believe or the father died in, we think, 2004.
Ariel Castro is separated from his wife, we think a few years ago. He's believed to be a musician. Significantly, he knew the DeJesus family, which is Gina's family. And in fact, there was evidence earlier that his son, who also is called Ariel, but goes under the name Anthony (ph), had actually written a piece, an article about Gina being missing.
And I guess we'll find out more from the police about that tomorrow. But in terms of the reporters in Cleveland who've covered this for quite some time, this must be an astonishing night because it's bringing three unsolved huge mysteries together in one fell swoop.
KRAUSE (PH): It's an incredible story. It's the biggest story, obviously, of the year. It's probably the biggest -- one of the biggest stories of our lives as reporters.
I was just about headed out the door to go home when this broke. I went up to my editor, I said, do you need some help? You know, the next thing you know, I'm out there covering this. And people are calling me from all over the world to find out what happened.
But it's understandable, because it's just such a miraculous incredible story, which, so far, has a good happy ending. I mean, down the road we're going to have to find out how these women have been affected by all of this. And I'm sure there's a lot of heartache and pain to come down the road. But for right now, just an incredibly joyous, uplifting, hopeful story.
MORGAN: And Peter, although --
(CROSSTALK)
KRAUSE (PH): -- (inaudible). MORGAN: -- right. And, Peter, I mean, that clearly is the mood in Cleveland tonight. But I would imagine over the next few days the mood may turn against the investigation into all three missing girls in the sense they've all been discovered within a few blocks of where they were kidnapped.
Do you think that the police and other investigators will be coming in for some pretty tough criticism?
KRAUSE (PH): Oh, I'm sure they will. Yes, anytime a crime gets solved after years -- and it appears that perhaps there were some answers that were -- I don't want to say in broad daylight, but were quite evident and could have been discovered with a little luck. And you know, you're going to have people wondering why this wasn't solved a lot earlier. But I think you have to reserve judgment on that. I mean --
MORGAN: Yes.
KRAUSE (PH): -- the people on this block, nobody on this block had any idea this was going on in this house. And, usually, you know, police get their tips from people in the neighborhood.
MORGAN: Yes, it does seem to have been an extraordinary secret that the perpetrator or perpetrators have managed to carry on so long; even people living directly opposite had absolutely no idea, from what we can ascertain, that there was anybody else in that house, other than Ariel Castro.
Peter, thank you very much indeed for joining me again.
KRAUSE (PH): You're welcome.
MORGAN: When we come back, more on the breaking story from Cleveland. Three women found alive after missing for a decade, a remarkable story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: More now on the breaking news in Cleveland, where three women missing for a decade have been found alive earlier this evening. Three men, all brothers, are in custody.
Joining me now on the phone is Rachel DeSelle (ph), a reporter with the "Cleveland Plain Dealer."
Welcome to you, Rachel (ph).
What can you tell me about the three men who are in custody, if anything?
RACHEL DESELLE (PH), "CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER": Well, all we know at this point is that police are saying that there's three men in custody they believe to be brothers, Ariel Castro being one of them.
And so we really don't have a lot more information except that they were all picked up by Cleveland police. I've talked to a couple of people, but I think the information they provided was a bit tenuous. So I don't want to repeat it.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: This has presumably all come as a huge shock to the police, never mind everybody else, because absolutely nobody seems to have had a clue that these women were all being held together in this house.
DESELLE (PH): No, I mean, that was one consistent story from all the neighbors and from everybody. I mean, I talked to probably more than 20 neighbors on the street, who had never seen any of these women at all coming in or out of the house, never saw the child that was described coming in or out of the house.
They all mentioned seeing one of the daughters dropping off her sons to visit at the home, but that was about it. They didn't see anybody else really coming and going.
MORGAN: And in terms of the child or children who may have also been in this property, we believe that there is at least one child; Amanda Berry appears to have had at least one child, the age of which is ranging, depending on who you talk to, from 3 or 4 up to 6 or 7.
Can you shed any more light on that?
DESELLE (PH): Sure. I mean, at this point all I know is from eyewitnesses that a child came out of the house after Amanda Berry came out of the house.
Now eyewitnesses who were there, including the man that called 9-1-1, put the child at somewhere between 8 and 10. They weren't really sure.
I saw another report that was saying police confirmed that she was possibly 6. You know, I've also -- there's been conflicting reports as to actually whose child she is. So I think we're trying to be real careful about that as well.
MORGAN: Yes. We're looking at a picture at the moment, actually, which was from the hospital of Amanda Berry, with, we believe, her sister and supposedly the child that was also found in the house.
But I think it is important to stress that we aren't completely sure, I think at this stage, whose child she is.
It would appear that it was Amanda Berry's child, but we'll find out more from the police tomorrow no doubt.
Thank you very much indeed.
DESELLE (PH): We had a discussion of that photo and we weren't sure who the child in the photo actually was. So we were trying to be real careful about that.
MORGAN: Right. I think that's very prudent and we should just be cautious about this until we know official -- Rachel, thank you very much for joining me.
DESELLE (PH): All right. Thanks so much.
MORGAN: I'm going to go back now to Mark Klaas.
Mark, you've been listening to all this. It's a really extraordinary tale -- you could have three brothers operating in a kind of kidnapping ring. I don't want to jump ahead of the investigation here, but could have all been working in cahoots together to kidnap these women and put them in this house. I mean, really so audacious, apart from being appalling.
MARK KLAAS, POLLY'S FATHER: Yes, it's unbelievable. It's a bad year for brothers, isn't it, not a good year for uncles, either.
The extraordinary thing is that these women have lived under enormous physical and psychological restraints for a decade for now. The possibility exists that they haven't even been outside for a decade.
I can't even imagine having to live under those kinds conditions. It's almost like living in a cave. What these people did to these girls is absolutely unforgivable. And if they are all complicit, they all need to spend the rest of their lives in prison, just to set an example to anybody else who might consider harming a young child.
MORGAN: Right.
And, Lisa Bloom, in terms of the legal investigation that will happen here, clearly these are three separate kidnapping cases or certainly will be confirmed as such now, no doubt.
Where does that leave us legally in terms of potential charges?
LISA BLOOM, LEGAL ANALYST: Well, certainly kidnapping as to all three. If that little child is part of this, perhaps four. False imprisonment and, you know, let's be realistic; there has to be sexual assault that probably went on here on a regular basis. Lord knows what else happened to these women.
And you know, Piers, I'm so struck by her 9-1-1 call. She says, "I'm Amanda Berry. I've been missing for 10 years. I've been on the news. I'm here."
It seems to me she must have had access to a television or a radio because she knows that she was on the news, she knows that she wasn't forgotten. She knows that some people, though, maybe think that she's dead. And when she says I'm here, it just strikes me so powerfully that she's trying to let the world know, I'm here, please come save me. And thank God she was saved today.
MORGAN: Yes, thank God. And it's -- obviously we will find out a lot more about all this tomorrow and as the next few days arrive. Well, what we do know is that it is one of the most extraordinary multiple kidnappings that you can imagine.
And it ended, thank God, happily for the families of these three women, who were very young when they were kidnapped and a lot older now. They were 14, 16 and 20.
Thank you to Lisa Bloom and thank you also to Mark Klaas for joining me tonight on what is a day of great joy but obviously as we get more details, great agony, too, for those who have had to go through this nightmare for the last 10 years. And their stories will be utterly compelling.
We'll be back after the break with more on our breaking story. We'll hear from one of the cousins of one of three young women who were found the day after they vanished a decade ago. That's after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: The parents of Gina DeJesus are with their daughter tonight. The family says they never gave up hope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Sheila and Sylvia, I believe you're cousins of Gina DeJesus.
Tell me how you heard the news.
SHEILA FIGARO (PH), GINA DEJESUS' COUSIN: This is Sheila speaking. I was sitting at dinner and I received a phone call from my nephew, who asked, had I heard the news, and I said no. He proceeded to tell me that Gina and Amanda were found in a home just down the street from where their aunt lives, one block away.
And I turned my head to watch the TV and it was breaking news. So it is, in fact for us, true. They have been found.
MORGAN: Astonishing.
And Sylvia?
(CROSSTALK)
SYLVIA COLON (PH), GINA DEJESUS' COUSIN: I was in a business meeting and I got a 9-1-1 text call, my cousin, and that's how I got the news.
MORGAN: And just to remind viewers about Gina's disappearance, it was on April the 2nd, 2004. She was just 14 years old, walking home from Wilbur Wright Middle School.
Nancy, Gina's mother, always believed her daughter had been kidnapped and sold into a sex trade, Sheila. She must feel vindicated, at least, that her daughter was alive, as she always thought.
FIGARO (PH): That is true. Nancy stepped out of the hospital room for a short time and assured the family that Gina is doing well and she had asked for other numbers.
But Nancy never gave up faith, knowing that her daughter would one day be found.
MORGAN: Do you know, Sheila, the reaction of Gina's mother when she heard the news?
FIGARO (PH): I do not. I was not present. But I'm sure she was overjoyed.
MORGAN: Sylvia, did the family ever give up hope that one day Gina would be found alive?
COLON (PH): They never did. Her mother and father truly never ever gave up hope. Nancy was always very stoic, is very stoic, a very strong woman. And she has always said that she just could feel it. It's only something a mom could feel.
But she has always believed Gina was alive and well. She always believed that. And I, you know, just want to say what a phenomenal Mother's Day gift she gets this Mother's Day.
FIGARO (PH): Amen.
MORGAN: Absolutely, couldn't imagine a better one. Just to remind viewers, I'm talking to two cousins, Sheila Figaro (ph) and Sylvia Colon (ph), both cousins of Gina DeJesus, who has been found after 10 years alive, with two other missing woman.
Let me talk to you again, Sheila, about this fact that she wasn't found alone. She was found with Amanda Berry and a third woman, Michelle Knight.
It really is truly remarkable, isn't it?
FIGARO (PH): It is amazing.
MORGAN: There seems to be some suggestion that Amanda may have had a baby daughter and that there's also another child that came out of the house.
What do you think of that?
FIGARO (PH): It's a confirmation that, in fact, Amanda Berry has a child. It's a 3-year-old, I believe it's a 3-year-old girl. I heard speculation that there was another child, but that is yet to be confirmed. Being sexual predators -- being sexual predators, I'm not at all surprised that these girls now had some other children.
MORGAN: Well, it's just terrific news that Gina is back now in safety, back with her family, back in the hospital, getting the treatment she needs.
Thank you both for joining me so much. I really appreciate it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: Stay with CNN, the very latest on this breaking story out of Cleveland. There will be a police news conference later this morning and we'll be back at 9:00 pm Eastern with much, much more on the three missing women found alive, a joyful end to a nightmare ordeal.
That's all for us. "ANDERSON COOPER" starts right now.
