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(NewsNation) — Three women who went missing on the streets of Ohio after being abducted in the early 2000s are now taking back their lives years later.
Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, now known as Lily Rose Lee, were 14, 16 and 20 years old when they were abducted in Cleveland. The windows to the house were blocked, interior doors barricaded, until Berry made a daring escape.
What happened in the Cleveland kidnappings?
On May 6, 2013, Berry made a 911 call after escaping from their captor, Ariel Castro’s, home on Seymour Avenue in Cleveland with the help of a neighbor.
“Help me. I’m Amanda Berry… I’ve been kidnapped, and I’ve been missing for 10 years,” Berry told the 911 dispatcher that day, according to NewsNation affiliate WJW.
Berry had been kidnapped by Castro in 2003. When police arrived, they found two other missing women — Lee, who was kidnapped in 2002, and DeJesus, who was kidnapped in 2004.
During the 10 years they were being held captive in Castro’s house, they were restrained, sexually assaulted and abused. That home was torn down three months after the women were rescued.
Castro was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years in August 2013. In September of that year, he was found dead in his cell at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio, hanging from a sheet.
Berry became pregnant and gave birth in captivity. Her own mother ended up passing away without knowing Berry made it out alive. While she said she was “very happy” to return after her ordeal, Berry said it’s also “very sad, because I thought I would come home to my mom… I didn’t get a chance to do that, so that’s the only thing that hurts.”
“After 11 years, I’m finally being heard,” Lee said at the time. “And it’s liberating.”
DeJesus also spoke out about her experience, saying, “In the beginning, everybody used to come up to me and tell me, ‘Oh, we’ve been helping your mom, we’ve been looking for you.'”
Young residents come to show their support near the house where three women were held captive for a decade, May 7, 2013 in Cleveland, ohio. Three brothers have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping of three women found safe in a home after being missing for a decade, authorities said. There were more questions than answers the day after the stunning turn of events that began with a frantic arm sticking out of a screen door, a woman screaming for help, and a neighbor kicking in the door to free her in a working-class neighborhood of the city in the American heartland. Ariel Castro and his brothers – Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50 have been detained, authorities said. AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel Dunand (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images) 
Signs and balloons hang on a street pole near where Gina DeJesus was last seen a decade ago, after three women were held captive for a decade in a house, May 8, 2013 in Cleveland, ohio. Three brothers have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping of three women found safe in a home after being missing for a decade, authorities said. There were more questions than answers the day after the stunning turn of events that began with a frantic arm sticking out of a screen door, a woman screaming for help, and a neighbor kicking in the door to free her in a working-class neighborhood of the city in the American heartland. Ariel Castro and his brothers – Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50 have been detained, authorities said. AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel Dunand (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images) 
A photo of Amanda Berry, one of the three woman found alive after vanishing for about a decade in their own neighborhood, is seen amongst balloons in front of the home of Berry’s sister Beth, which is adorned with balloons and a welcome home banner for Amanda, in Cleveland, Ohio May 7, 2013. The three Cleveland women were freed from a house (not pictured) that authorities tried to visit several years ago, police said on Tuesday. Three brothers, one of them a school bus driver who owns the house (Photo by John Gress/Corbis via Getty Images)
Helping those in need after Cleveland kidnapping
Now, in 2025, the women are focused on helping others in need. Berry joined the reporting ranks at NewsNation affiliate WLW, with a “Missing” series spotlighting cases just like hers.
“I know life would’ve probably been a little bit easier if I would’ve just stayed to myself, but I felt like this is what I’m supposed to do,” Berry said.
DeJesus and her cousin Sylvia Colon launched a non-profit, the Cleveland Family Center for Missing Children and Adults, which hosts families who are searching for loved ones and works with law enforcement to find them.
“We know what it feels like because of our missing loved one, but it takes time,” Colon said. “Even if the person’s been missing for 24 hours, if it’s a kid or an adult, I always say: Life really is never the same.”
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For their contributions to public safety, Berry and DeJesus were given the Attorney General’s Award in 2022. It’s believed they’ve had a role in bringing countless missing people back home.
Lee devotes her time to caring for injured animals through a non-profit that she runs out of her home.
“God put me on this earth to connect humans and animals in a special way,” Lee said.