In 2015, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus recounted the years they’d lost to Ariel Castro’s cruelty in their book Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland. It's a tough read, a dark catalog of the crimes that earned Castro a prison sentence of life plus 1,000 years. But the memoir, written in part from the 1,200-page diary Berry kept in captivity, is also a narrative of perseverance.
Read more: 2207 Seymour Avenue
It includes anecdotes about Berry and DeJesus watching TV news segments about their disappearances. Since their miraculous escape, Berry has taken to the airwaves herself at WJW-TV8, where she reminds Cleveland not to forget the women locked in a house somewhere, waiting for others to look inside.
Revisit more of Cleveland’s 50 most impactful moments over the past 50 years.