Welcome Home Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus and Michelle Knight!!!

I'm sure you have all heard the the wonderful news from Cleveland, Ohio. As of 6 PM, May 6, 2013, Amanda Berry, Georgina Dejesus and Michelle Knight have been found ALIVE!!!!

Years ago, I participated in the Adopt a Missing Person Program by Project Jason. It's an awareness program for missing children and adults. My adoptee was Georgina Dejesus. In the mail, I received two buttons with Gina's information and picture, along with a letter from her mother, Nancy. In the letter, she told me about how Gina loved to rollerblade and she shared the funny whale stories Gina and her best friend made up. She talked about how outgoing she was, how she loved to hang out at the roller rink and about what a kind heart she had. And then she thanked me for helping keep Gina's story alive. Along with Amanda Berry, I had never forgotten about Gina since those 8 years ago. I remember wearing her button on my purse throughout my school days, and sharing her story. I even recruited others to join the program to "adopt" others like Amanda Berry and Heaven LaShae Ross.
So I went on my facebook page last night and read Sharon Murch's (mother of missing girl, Michaela Garect) post on facebook, saying Amanda and Gina had been found in Cleveland, ALIVE! I cried tears of joy for them and their loved ones. About ten long years in captivity, in a man's basement, tied up.
Thank God for Charles Ramsey, who helped Amanda and her 6 year old daughter break down the door and call 911. Thank God for Amanda Berry's brave heart, saving all of their lives. And thank God for everyone who never stopped searching! It's very rare we find happy endings to any harrowing cases such as these, much less a happy ending to three!
And now I wonder, how many other Amanda Berrys, Jaycee Dugrads or Elizabeth Smarts are there out there? All these women disappeared nearby Lorrain Ave, and were located just blocks from their abduction site, in the basement of a house on Seymour Ave. How did they go undetected for so long?
I had heard many times throughout the years that many thought Amanda Berry was dead. I think ideas like that give us all tunnel vision when assisting in searches such as these, even though there was no actual evidence leading people to even think that she was not alive. How many times did people go out looking for the remains of a 17 year old instead of an alive 27 year old woman? How many other girls are being held captive for human trafficking rings? I'd say one too many.
And what about Michelle Knight, who vanished on August 23, 2002 when she was 20 years old, also off of Lorrain Avenue? Why didn't police search for her? Michelle's mother claims authorities believed Michelle left on her own, and she felt she was all alone in the search for her daughter. So, how many other Michelle Knights are there? (I have found a picture of Michelle, and I will post the link to it below, which also leads to an updated news article about her).
I will say, I was suprised that Ashley Summers was not with the girls, as I had always thought if they found one, they would find them all. And they did in this case, except it was not Ashley Summers who was recovered.



Along with many other unanswered questions, where is Ashley Summers?

 For those who don't know, Amanda vanished in April 2003 while walking home from Burger King and Gina vanished in April 2004 while walking home from school. She was 14 then, and is 24 now. Ashley summers vanished from the same Cleveland neighborhood as the rest of the girls when she was 14 in 2007. She vanished only blocks away from 2027 Seymour Ave; the house of former school bus driver Ariel Castro, who was holding the three women captive for over a decade. While we will hear a lot about these women and the Castros over the next few weeks, I still wonder, where is Ashley Summers? Is she also being held captive, somewhere else by someone else?
I know there are many questions we all have, as to how they were undetected for so long and how they survived. I'm sure there will be lots of details over the next few weeks, and for the current ones I have some great news articles below. I will not be updating on many details, unless they may be related to other missing person cases because I feel the media already is covering a lot. These women have been through enough. However, I will leave up my blog spotlight for Amanda Berry, because many may not know the background information to the case. I have also come across some updates articles and slideshows that mention the horror these girls went through, but I will just post the link for that instead of on here.

All in all, this is a great cause for celebration, I am beyond happy for these girls, WELCOME HOME!!!

Above is a thank you video from Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus and Michele Knight, to everyone who has helped them in every way along the years. A very touching video uploaded on July 8, 2013. 

All rights and claims of this film go to www.clevelandcouragefund.org.

Source:
Charley Project
STILL MISSING FROM CLEVELAND:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/summers_ashley.html
UPDATED ARTICLE AS OF 05/08/12 PM:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/08/18123601-cleveland-man-charged-with-kidnapping-rape-no-charges-for-2-brothers?lite
SLIDESHOW
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/51806693/displaymode/1247?beginSlide=1
MICHELLE KNIGHT
http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/police-amanda-berry-gina-dejesus-michelle-knight-bound-with-chains-locks-inside-seymour-ave-home
NEWS
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/06/18091211-three-ohio-women-found-alive-after-being-missing-for-a-decade-3-men-arrested?lite
http://abcnews.go.com/US/daughter-found-women-missing-decade/story?id=19122795
http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/05/07/ashley_summers_missing_fourth_girl_vanished_from_same_cleveland_neighborhood.html