Michelle Knight was 20 years old when she was abducted. Castro offered her a ride on August 23rd,2002. She accepted the offer of a ride as she knew one of his daughters. She was lured into his home where he raped her. Then began her ordeal in captivity.
Michelle herself had a troubled upbringing with a scarcity of food and clothes and unknown people coming to and going from the house at all hours. At the age of 15, she ran away from home. During her captivity over 11 years, she had become pregnant at least 5 times and made to abort after being violently kicked and punched in the abdomen by her captor.
The next victim, Amanda Marie Berry, was returning home after working at Burger King on April 21st, 2003. She too knew Castro’s children and therefore accepted the offer of a ride. Like Michelle, she too was assaulted and made captive.
A week after her abduction he phoned her mother using her cell phone to tell her that her daughter was safe and would be returning home in about two days. Amanda conceived and gave birth to a girl on 25th December 2006. It was later confirmed that the father was Castro.
In 2004, Gina DeJesus, a 14-year-old also fell victim to Castro’s debauchery. She was an acquaintance of his daughter Arlene. On the day of her kidnapping, Gina was walking home with Arlene when they parted to take their respective routes home. While on her way Castro, Arlene’s father, drove up to her in a vehicle. He made believe to enquire about the whereabouts of his daughter whom Gina had just left. He asked her to help him and told her to get into the car.
Instead of following her directions, Castro drove towards his house giving her the excuse that he first needed to get some home chores done with her assistance. Once inside the house, he began to molest her. He took her to the basement and tried chaining her. Gina resisted and attempted to escape fighting back and bruising him. He overpowered her and thus began her captivity.
The women’s disappearance got a lot of media attention through 2012. Their families got a lot of public support, with even Castro himself offering help on at least two occasions. Castro lived a mostly inconspicuous life and appeared like any ordinary person.
His job as an elementary school bus driver, a player in a local band, and having an uncle who owned a grocery store served the purpose of a cover for his nefarious activity.