♪ ♪ this is "nightline." tonight. >> he started to show me around the house. and i never got back out. >> trapped in a house of horrors, until an extraordinary act of courage freed three young women. >> i've been kidnapped. i'm here, i'm free now. >> held captive for nearly three year, now sitting down with robin roberts. the abc news exclusive interviews. plus, from the darkness to light. how they survived a living nightmare. >> how often did you think you were not going to survive? >> the community refusing to give up on the search to find them. now symbols of hope. >> i told her, we've been looking for you for a long time.

>> "nightline" will be right back. [ dramatic music ]ing ]

ahhhh! -ahhhh! elliott. you came back! good evening. thank you for joining us. their names and faces haunted the community of cleveland, ohio for nearly a decade. young women mysteriously disappeared. tortured by their kidnapper until a fateful escape.

robin roberts with the exclusive interviews. >> may 6, 2013. the gritty heartland city of cleveland witnessed a miracle. >> help me, i'm amanda berry! i've been kidnapped, and i've been missing for ten years, and i'm here, i'm free now! >> amanda told the police, i ain't just the only one. there's some more girls up in that house. >> gina dejesus returns here. she is indeed home. >> he was never on our radar at all. >> police arrested -- >> their abductor it turns out was a deranged school bus driver. >> now we want the world to know. >> we survived. >> we love life. >> we were stronger. >> tell me about your childhood. >> i had a lot of things that went on in my life that was very traumatic. like sexual abuse, emotional abuse. you name it, i went through it. >> she felt neglected. >> a male relative sexually

abused her. and when you think she was 12, 13, 14 years old, it's just nightmarish. >> so i basically ran away. >> going to school, i was always bullied. >> she was approached by an older boy at school. he kind of charmed her. they started having sex. and she realized she was pregnant. >> i wanted to be the best mom. >> she goes to look for a job to better her life and leaves her child in the hands of her mother. >> her mother's boyfriend was drunk, and he grabbed joey by the leg and fractured his knee. michelle took joey to the hospital, and social services put joey in foster care. >> she is going to court because she's fighting desperately to

get her little boy, joey, back. >> i was so super excited to get to the appointment and then i couldn't find the place. >> she was pretty desperate. so she walked over to a family dollar store to ask the clerk where this address was. >> and then my best friend's father comes into the store. >> and gets you to the point. >> he says i know where it's at. i can take you straight to it. so i got into his car. we started talking about how his daughter was at home. and i was like it would be super nice to see her. >> he shoved me in the room. and he said you're not going to leave for a long time. and then he started undressing his self. and he ripped out my son's picture right in front of me. the only picture i had.

and said you'll never see him. . and that hurt it so bad, the knife felt like it was going deeper and deeper into my chest. >> puts his hand over her mouth and tells her don't scream or i'll kill you. and then he proceeds to tie her up. then he masturbates in front of her. >> couldn't move. couldn't do anything. i couldn't tell what time of day it was. because i was hooked to a pole in the middle of the floor with a motorcycle helmet on my head. >> he routinely rapes her in the basement. three, four times a day. >> he would often leave a radio on, really, really loud so that even if she started screaming couldn't hear it anyway, because there was music playing.

>> ariel castro, once again, looking for women. how bold is that? >> amanda had been walking home from burger king. >> suddenly, a red car pulls up. the driver. it's a familiar face. >> and amanda realized this was ariel castro and he knew his daughter. they had all gone to school together. >> you know, it's a friend's dad. and he's like, she's at my house, would you like that go see her? i was like, yeah, sure, i haven't seen her in a while. >> they pull up in front of a modest-looking white house. >> it was just really dark in there. he told me to go down on my hands. from there i knew, like, this was not going to be

>> this is a scale model of ariel castro's home. amanda, michelle, chained up in separate bedrooms. >> this nondescript house played a huge role in the fact that it could help castro keeping a human prison going on. >> we knew he had kids. at the time he was living single. >> amanda berry, when she first went missing, her mother, luanda miller was on the tv pleading for her return. >> my daughter should not be talked about like this. she is not dead yet. it is so frustrating living daily. >> we had thousands of leads. >> there's still hope for the family. >> i would see them on tv, and i'm like, that kept me going. and i said i'm going to make it home to you. as long as you fight, i'm going to fight. >> 14 year old gina dejesus grew

up on the rough and tumble west side of cleveland. >> i told her to be aware of her surroundings at all times. >> tell us about that day you were with his daughter. >> yes. irene castro. we were talking about what we wanted to do, because it was friday. and then i was like, you can come over. >> and geena lent her bus money to make the telephone call. >> and she asked her mom. and her mom says no. >> the last thing she said to me is you owe me 50 cents. >> right after that, ariel castro pulls up and offers gina a ride. >> he asks me if you seen my daughter. >> and this lure was the trick of ariel castro. using his own children as pawns. >> reporter: you felt there's nothing strange about this, right? >> no. i just knew that that was her

father. my dad was friends with him. >> and now she's in the house >> he's like, starts touching me and stuff. and then i'm like, what are you doing? you need to go to jail. and then he just switches up, well, you're going to go home now, but you can't go through the same door you came in. >> you have to leave through another door. i have a superstition. it turns out to be the basement. >> once you were in the basement, what happened? >> he ended up chaining me to the pole. >> when did you realize that there were others in the house, that you weren't the only one? >> he was like, i have amanda berry upistairs, and i have another girl upstairs, but she's not on the tv, nobody cares about her. her name was michelle knight. >> he would talk to me every single day. your families don't care about you, ain't you glad i took you?

i felt like he hated me the most, because i was the one that stood my ground. >> reporter: five times you were pregnant. >> yes, and each time he aborted it. >> reporter: i'm sorry, michelle. >> and he's the reason why i can't have children now. and that's the most bad feeling ever, but he couldn't break me. >> it was a dark and hopeless existence in that house. until one day everything changed when amanda announced she was going to have a baby. >> ar he was goind he was goingr to keep that baby. it's christmas morning 2006 and amanda goes into labor. >> he didn't want, you know, a mess on the bed. and he brung michelle in the room. and he says, if this child dies, i will kill you. >> amanda gave birth to this

child in the room where she had been chained. and she picked out a name. joslin. >> she was just the most beautiful. >> reporter: you hear of rape victims who have a child. how do you just wrap were your mind around it and make it work? >> this is his kid. how die feo i feel about that? she resembled him a lot. and i would look at her, and i just felt like she's mine. she's mine. >> surprisingly, he bonded with this child. >> and when she was about 2, he started taking her outside. >> she had never been to parks before and seen little kids like herself. >> i know one of the best times when you looked out and you saw the sunlight on her face for the

first time. >> it was the most beautifulest thing. i just felt like that's where she should always be. >> i see him walking the baby up and down the street. spoiling it. this kid rotten. >> who did you steal this girl from. and ariel just looks over and says oh, this is my girlfriend's daughter. >> can you imagine that the baby was bourrn on christmas day, an it turned out to be the gift that got them out of the house. >> cleveland, 911. >> this broad is trying to break out the [ bleep ] house next door to me. ed with soft surface that trap odors and release them back into the room. so try febreze fabric refresher. febreze finds odors trapped in fabrics and cleans them away as it dries. use febreze every time you tidy up, to keep your whole house smelling fresh air clean. fabric refresher even works for clothes you want to wear another day. make febreze part of your clean routine

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ahhhh! -ahhhh! elliott. you came back!

seven years ago tonight. >> it was eight years ago tonight. >> teit's been nine years. >> today marks ten years since amanda disappeared. >> after a while we thought these girls will never be found. they're dead. they're gone. >> it's a warm spring day, and a source of hope for escape would come from the most unexpected place. 6-year-old joslin. >> joslin goes downstairs and she runs back up, and she says i don't find daddy, daddy's nowhere around. >> my heart immediately started pounding. should i chance it? >> this was the one time your room was not locked. >> never before in ten years had that happened. i'm like, okay, now i just got to fly out this front screen door and i'm free. and that didn't happen. >> and it's padlocked. she pushes it enough that she >> i'm just like waving my arm.

i'm like, somebody please, please help me. i'm amanda berry. >> charles ramsey, ariel castro's neighbor, sitting on his porch, eating a big mac and hears this noise. >> boom, boom, boom, boom, boom! what the hell is that? she said get me out of this house. >> he started trying to pull on the door and he couldn't get it open either. so he kind of kicks it. >> out comes amanda, out comes the little girl, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. >> help me! i'm amanda berry, i've been kidnapped. and i've been missing for ten years. and i'm here. i'm free now. >> you threw the lights and sirens on and started heading southbound. >> >> i'm heading over there. >> we head onto seymour. and it's amanda. looks the same as the missing persons flier. >> then she gives us, there's two more girls in the house. >> when i get to the door, i try

to pull it open, and i can tell it's been chained shut from the inside. so i started to boot it a few times. >> finally, the whole screen door and everything came off. we all rushed into the home. >> i hear noises in the hallway. police, police! i push my head out. i see a badge. so i book in my underwears and my tee shirt, ran up and jumped in their arms. and said never let me go. it took me a while to come out of my room. because i didn't believe that they were cops. >> then all of a sudden, i see another person walking out. i knew who it was. she was pale. but i needed confirmation. so i asked her her name.

she told me her name was georgina dejesus. and i told her, we've been looking for you for a long time. >> we found'em! we found'em! >> reporter: the manhunt is on, but it's not a long one. because in short order, police are able to find ariel castro, who's behind the wheel of his mazda me miata. >> the police pulled him over in his car, and castro didn't say a word, nothing. >> i told the girls we have the suspect in custody, and they were all like oh, thank god. you could see the relief in their eyes. >> i wish that i could dream, i need somebody to brewake me up. >> i remember amanda berry and her sister hugged so, so tight. >> she was skinny and short

hair, but she was still beautiful. >> what was it like when you introduced your daughter to them? >> she gave them a hug like she'd known them forever. >> please be seated. >> he was charged with 977 counts, including aggravated murder, rape and kidnapping. >> he did everyone a favor, it seems, by agreeing to a plea deal. and he was sentenced to life in prison, plus 1,000 >> michelle is the only one that came to court to speak. >> you took 11 years of my life away. and i have got it back. >> where did you find the strength to do that in. >> i had to show him that he no loner has control over me. that he doesn't define who i am. i define who i am. >> for ten miserable years, they

survive. but ariel castro lasted just one month and one day in prison before apparently taking his own life. >> you said you could never forgive him. do you fill feel that way? >> i absolutely do feel that way. because i never got to see my mom again. and i'll never, ever, ever forget about >> the community needed it to go away. it provoked things in people to drive by there and see it still standing. >> michelle came and released some balloons. >> the first thing i thought is they're taking a horrible situation, turning it into good. >> michelle, she's found happiness and joy. she's married. >> tell us about miguel. >> oh, my gosh. he is the love of my life.

>> she's like a big bomb in a small package. >> you can overcome all obstacles that stand in your way. don't let the darkness control your light in your life. >> coming up, how the three young women continue to inspire the world. get everything clean. i tell them, it may be your detergent... that's why more dishwasher brands recommend cascade platinum... ...with the soaking, scrubbing and rinsing built right in. for sparkling-clean dishes, the first time. cascade platinum. what's the time? device: a dime is ten cents. severe cold or flu? take control with theraflu. powerful, soothing relief to defeat your worst cold and flu symptoms fast. device: (sneezes) theraflu. the power is in your hands.

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[ dramatic music ]ing ] ahhhh! -ahhhh! elliott. you came back!

it's been nearly seven years since the women escaped. each day dedicated to helping others. that's "nightline." you can catch

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