WOIO TV via AFP - Getty Images
Amanda Berry (right) was reunited with her sister on Monday after Berry and two other women were found alive in a house in Cleveland, Ohio.
By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News
Three brothers have been arrested after three women who disappeared in separate incidents about a decade ago were found alive in a house in Ohio, police said.
A neighbor told how he came to the women?s rescue after hearing screams coming from the house in Cleveland.
Officials confirm that one man has been arrested after three Ohio women were found alive after being missing for a decade.
Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight went missing between 2000 and 2004 when they were aged between 14 and 20. Berry's mother died in 2006, not knowing whether her daughter was alive or dead.
Three male suspects, including a 52-year-old man, were arrested, Cleveland Police said in a statement. Reuters reported they were brothers, citing police.
Neighbor Charles Ramsey told NBC Cleveland station WKYC that he heard screams coming from the house on the city?s west side and was able to speak to Berry, who said she was trapped inside.
She told Ramsey her name and said, "I've been kidnapped, and I've been in this house a long time, and I want to leave right now."
The door would not open so Ramsey said he helped kick it down and then allowed Berry to call 911. Berry had with her a child who she said belonged to her captor.
Ramsey told his story in this WKYC video:
Cleveland police released the frantic call where Berry pleaded with a 911 operator to send help right away.?
"Help me! I'm Amanda Berry. I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for 10 years and I'm here. I'm free now," she said. "I'm Amanda Berry, I've been on the news."
Police in Cleveland made an amazing discovery -- three young women who went missing a decade ago were found alive and safe. Rachel Dissell, a reporter for Cleveland Plain Dealer, who's been following this story for 10 years, shares the latest details in the case.
All three women were taken to a hospital, where they were reported to be in good medical condition, according to officials.
At a press conference late Monday, Dr. Gerald Maloney, of Metro Health Medical declined to comment on whether the child was admitted to the hospital with the women.
The women's disappearance has been a mystery to Cleveland authorities for years.
Berry, now 27, was reported missing on April 21, 2003 after she phoned her sister to say she was getting a ride home from her job at a fast food restaurant.
About one year later, then 14-year-old DeJesus went missing when walking home from school.
Knight went missing around the year 2000, police said, but since she was 20 years old at the time, authorities assumed she may have run off on her own.
Police on Monday said all three women were held against their will. Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba told Reuters that the women had probably been held in the house since they vanished.
As word spread that the women had been found alive, neighbors gathered to cheer and celebrate the good news.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer file
Amanda Berry (left) and Gina DeJesus (right) went missing about a decade ago.
Relatives spoke of their shock.
Michele Knight?s mother Barbara told The Plain Dealer newspaper that she hoped police had correctly identified her daughter.
"I'm praying that if it is her, she will come back with me so I can help her recover from what she has been through," she added. "So much has happened in these ten years. She has a younger sister she still has not met. I missed her so much while she was gone."
Destiny Berry, cousin to Amanda, told WKYC: "I just want to see her, I just want to see what she looks like. I just want to hold her."
Destiny and her sister were best friends with Amanda before her disappearance. "We were so close, inseparable. And when she came up missing it killed us. Going 10 years without knowing what happened to her, not knowing anything tears us apart,? she said.
Tasheena Mitchell, another cousin of Berry, told WKYC that she was "so excited, like you don?t even understand."
"I thought about her every day. I prayed about her every night. I?m just so excited that we?re here. And we?re so close but so far away because they won?t let us in," she said. "I knew that she would come one day. I just don?t understand why it took so long. I?m just happy that she?s here."
Those close to Berry?s mother, Louwana Miller, said the stress of her missing daughter took a toll on her health, The Plain Dealer reported.
The DeJesus family continued to hold out hope, holding vigils for her. DeJesus' mother, Nancy Ruiz, told WKYC at one in April: "She's still out there, and we need to bring her home.?
Earlier this year a prison inmate was sentenced for admitting he gave authorities fraudulent tips about Berry's remains.
Robert Wolford, who is serving time for killing a homeless man, told police the woman was buried under a Cleveland lot, which was then dug up by backhoes.
And two men arrested for questioning about DeJesus' disappearance were released in 2006 after police failed to find the woman's remains during a search of their house.
Police have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday morning.
NBC News' Ian Johnston and John Newland, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published on Mon May 6, 2013 10:54 PM EDT
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