VIDEO: Nelly brings out Amanda Berry at RoverFest 2013

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What you Don't know about Cleveland Kidnapper Ariel Castro

Who is the suspect?

 

Ariel Castro

Age: 52

Occupation: Unemployed. Fired as school bus driver in November.

Arrested by police: May 6, 2013

Castro has owned the house at 2207 Seymour Ave., where the women were found, since 1992. He has nine brothers and sisters, and his deceased father owned a car lot off West 25th Street. He is the member of a large extended family that settled in Cleveland just after World War II, emigrating from Puerto Rico. The family has widespread business ties. Castro was a longtime bus driver for Cleveland Metropolitan School District, but was fired in November. Also, Castro was a part-time bass player who was known among the Cleveland music scene. The Castro family also had several connections to the family of victim Gina DeJesus, and DeJesus family members said they believe Castro was involved in the search for Gina when she disappeared in 2004. Castro was described by those that knew him as smart and funny, but also quiet and private, and he had a love for classic cars. However, court records and police reports indicate Castro was a man who struggled to control his temper. He was accused of attacking his former wife in 2005. Neighbors and others who knew Castro he was guarded about who could come in his home, and some said he only entered and exited the house through the back door. Police visited Castro's home twice, in 2000 and 2004, for unrelated incidents. Castro and his brother, Onil Castro, 50, were arrested at a McDonald's on West 33rd Street on Monday, May 6, 2013. Another brother, Pedro Castro, 54, was arrested at the Hyde Avenue home of the brothers' mother, Lillian Rodriguez. Onil, 50, and Pedro, 54, were not charged in connection with the abductions.

Ariel Castro bond set at $8 million on kidnapping and rape chargesAriel Castro is arraigned in Cleveland Municipal Court on kidnapping and rape charges involving Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight. The three women and one child escaped Castro's Seymour Avenue home Monday after being held captive for a decade or more. Judge Lauren C. Moore set bond at $8 million.

On Wednesday, May 8, 2013, Ariel Castro was charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. He wasarraigned the following morning in Cleveland Municipal Court and was held on $8 million bond. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty said he would pursue aggravated murder charges against Castro because of "terminated pregnancies" during the women's captivity. Asearch of a nationwide DNA database did not connect Castro to any other crimes. On May 15, the Associated Press reported that Castro intended to plead not guilty to the charges. Onil and Pedro Castro did have warrants on unrelated misdemeanor charges. Pedro was released on May 8 after pleading no contest to an open container charge filed in July 2011. He was fined $100. Onil was released on May 8 after Judge Lauren Moore dismissed charges of drug abuse and having an open container that were filed in November 2001. The brothers later told CNN they had nothing to do with what reportedly went on in Ariel Castro's home, and they would have reported him to police if they had known. Onil said he hopes Ariel "rots in that jail."

On Friday, June 7, a Cuyahoga County grand jury issued a 329-count indictment against Ariel Castro. Two counts of the indictment charge Castro with aggravated murder for "purposely and with prior calculation and design causing the unlawful termination of another's pregnancy." The indictments covered only the period from August of 2002, when the first of the three women discovered in his Seymour Avenue house disappeared, until February of 2007. Castro also was indicted on 139 counts of rape, 177 counts of kidnapping, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, three counts of felonious assault and one count of possession of criminal tools.

On Wednesday, June 12, Ariel Castro pleaded not guilty to 329 charges in connection with the abductions and imprisonment of Berry, DeJesus and Knight. Castro did not speak and kept his head down during his appearance in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, and his lawyers entered his plea for him. One of his lawyers also indicated Castro would be willing to plead guilty to some of the charges if it meant he could avoid the death penalty. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty has said he will consider the death penalty in the case. The case was assigned to Judge Michael Russo. It was also revealed that Castro is being held in isolation in the Cuyahoga County Jail.

On Wednesday, June 19, Castro again appeared in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court for a pretrial hearing. Castro said little, answering "yes" and "no" to a few questions from Judge Russo and keeping his head down the entire time. Castro's attorneys, Jaye Schlachet and Craig Weintraub, concede that the evidence for some of the 329 charges against him is overwhelming. They have said Castro is willing to plead guilty to some of the charges to spare his victims from having to testify at trial. "There are definitely charges in this case we cannot dispute," Schlachet told reporters after the hearing. The thrust of his and Weintraub's work will be to prevent Castro from someday walking into the state's death chamber.

Who are the victims? More about Amanda, Gina, and Michelle.

Who are the victims?

View full sizeMichelle Knight in a 1999 family photo prior to her disappearance in 2002.

Michelle Knight

Abducted: Aug. 23, 2002

Age when abducted: 21

Age when rescued: 32

Knight was the first of the three victims to be abducted. She was last seen at a cousin's house near West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue in Cleveland. Her disappearance did not receive much publicity. Knight's grandmother, Deborah Knight, said in an interview that, based on the recommendation of police and social workers, family members had concluded that Michelle likely left on her own because she was angry that her son was removed from her custody. A short police report on disappearance said Michelle had a mental condition and frequently was confused by her surroundings. Knight's name was removed from an FBI database on missing persons by Cleveland police 15 months after her disappearance. Michelle's mother, Barbara Knight, who now lives in Florida, said she and Michelle were close, and she never believed her daughter would disappear without a trace. Barbara Knight put up fliers throughout her West Side neighborhood while living in Cleveland, and said she continued to search on her own after moving to Florida.

View full sizeAmanda Berry, shown before her abduction.AP 

Amanda Berry

Abducted: April 21, 2003

Age when abducted: 17

Age when rescued: 27

Berry disappeared while returning to her home on West 111th Street from her job at Burger King at West 110th Street and Lorain Avenue. She called her sister and told her she had a ride. At first police considered Amanda a runaway. But then the FBI began to investigate the case as a kidnapping. In November 2003, police said someone used Amanda’s cell phone a week after she disappeared to contact Miller and claim her daughter would be fine and would return in a few days. Berry's disappearance received extensive media coverage because of the tenacious efforts of her mother, Louwana Miller. Miller frequently went to local media, held vigils, and appeared on TV shows such as "America's Most Wanted" to keep her daughter's name in the news. Miller was disheartened in 2004 when she was told by a psychic on a TV showthat her daughter was dead. Miller died in 2006.

View full sizeGina DeJesus disappeared in 2004 when she was 14.AP 

Gina DeJesus

Abducted: April 2, 2004

Age when abducted: 14

Age when rescued: 23

DeJesus was a seventh-grader in special education classes at Wilbur Wright Middle School on April 2, 2004, when she decided to walk home. Her family quickly realized something was wrong when she didn't arrive home at her usual time. She was reported missing that same day, and the FBI became involved just two days later. Gina was last seen at the corner of West 105th Street and Lorain Avenue by childhood friend Arlene Castro, who is the daughter of suspected kidnapper Ariel Castro. It was later learned that there are several connections between the DeJesus and Castro families. Gina's family often held vigils for her, with the most recent on April 2, 2013, the ninth anniversary of her disappearance.

Prosecutor Adds 648 More Charges Against Alleged Cleveland Kidnapper Ariel Castro

Former Cleveland school bus driver Ariel Castro now faces 977 criminal charges stemming from the abduction and imprisonment of three women, after 648 charges were added on Friday, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said.

The grand jury's indictment spans from August 2002, when Castro was accused of abducting the first of the women, through May of this year when the women and a 6-year-old girl escaped his Cleveland home.

"Today's indictment moves us closer to resolution of this gruesome case," McGinty said in a statement.

Castro, who turned 53 on Wednesday in jail, was indicted in June on 329 charges involving the first 4-1/2 years of captivity for the women, who were freed from his house on May 6 along with the girl. DNA evidence later confirmed the girl was fathered by Castro.

Gina DeJesus, 23, Michelle Knight, 32, and Amanda Berry, 27, had been missing for around a decade.

Castro faces two counts of aggravated murder for allegedly forcing one of the women to miscarry. Aggravated murder charges qualify the case for the death penalty, but the prosecutor's office has not yet decided whether to seek that punishment.

Castro is also charged with 512 counts of kidnapping, 446 counts of rape, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, six counts of felony assault, three counts of child endangerment and one count of possessing tools such as a handgun to use in a crime.

He will be arraigned July 17 on the new indictment before Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Russo.

Trial is scheduled to begin on August 5.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer; Writing by Greg McCune; Editing by Gary Hill and Richard Chang)

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/prosecutor-adds-648-more-charges-against-alleged-cleveland-kidnapper-ariel-castro-2013-7#ixzz2YrvmOPla

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/prosecutor-adds-648-more-charges-against-alleged-cleveland-kidnapper-ariel-castro-2013-7#ixzz2Yrvh98fF

Michelle Knight Update (Family VIDEO) *Disturbing*

Her family member never knew she was missing initially and can't recall exactly what relation she is to Michelle Knight. 

Tomorrow, when you eat at any Northeast Ohio Bob Evans restaurant and present this flyer at checkout, 15% of your bill will go to the Cleveland Courage Fund.

Tomorrow, when you eat at any Northeast Ohio Bob Evans restaurant and present this flyer at checkout, 15% of your bill will go to the Cleveland Courage Fund. the fundraiser works for both dine in and carry out orders.

DETAILS: http://on.wkyc.com/1aZpaWt

SHARE this to help Amanda, Gina and Michelle on their road to recovery.

(VIDEO) Gina DeJesus Mother Knew Suspect Ariel Castro for Years and they talked about Gina

Nancy Ruiz says Ariel Castro would often ask how she's holding up without her daughter.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight still deserve privacy

That is what courage looks like.

Amanda, Gina and Michelle have their power back.

You can see it in their eyes.

You can hear it in their words.

You can feel it in your own heart as you hear Amanda Berry say, “It has been a blessing to have such an outpouring of love and kindness.”

There’s a quiet serenity in Gina DeJesus when she says, “Thank you for the support.” There’s a sea of strength in Michelle Knight as she tells us, “I’m doing just fine.”

For years, we saw the “before” pictures, the girls they once were. Now we see the “after” pictures, the women they have become. They are no longer victims. They are three healthy, beautiful, vibrant women.

The three women were held hostage by a sexual predator in a house on Seymour Avenue in Cleveland for a decade. They look victorious in their video statements released on Tuesday.

“I may have been through hell and back, but I am strong enough to walk through hell with a smile on my face and with my head held high and with my feet firmly on the ground,” Michelle said. “I will not let the situation define who I am. I will define the situation.”

I don’t know about you, but I just wanted to yell, “You go, girl!”

Their message was simple yet profound.

Michelle is 32. She disappeared when she was 21 in 2002.

Amanda is 27. She vanished the day before her 17th birthday in 2003 on her way home from work.

Gina is 23. She went missing on her way home from school at age 14 back in 2004.

They are no longer victims. They are so much more than survivors. They are on their way to becoming warriors, and we can help them.

For so long the only glimpse we had of them was from the posters that hung on utility poles begging for their return, posters that faded away as the days turned into a decade.

I cried watching Amanda speak. She’s even more beautiful than her mom described all those years ago in her living room. If only Louwana had lived to see her daughter free. I hope Amanda felt her mom’s presence and power all those years while Louwana fought and prayed for her daughter’s safety.

It was Amanda who broke through the door on Seymour Avenue in May, with the help of neighbors who heard her shouts for help

There are a million questions to ask. What happened? How did they survive? How did they hang on to hope after all those years? What does freedom taste like? How is Amanda’s little girl doing? What would they say to the man who abused them? What do they want to happen to him?

Ariel Castro has been charged with 329 counts, including kidnapping, rape and aggravated murder. We’ve heard snippets that would make horror writer Stephen King cringe. Cruel punishments for escape attempts. Duct tape and chains. Starving the women. Endless rapes and beatings.

It’s hard to watch Castro’s court appearances. The man accused of yielding such cruel power looks small, weak and sad. He holds his head down, either in genuine shame or to pretend he’s the victim. Either way, every time I see that curly head staring at the floor, I want to scream at the judge to order Castro to lift his head, look the judge in the eye and have respect for the criminal justice system.

If Common Pleas Judge Michael Russo can order Castro to look up, he should.

And if the prosecutor can stop a trial from happening, he should.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty has a huge decision to make.

We have a new prosecutor, one who can and should do the most powerful thing possible: plea bargain on behalf of these three women. Save them from further horror. Use the death penalty as a bargaining chip. Offer to drop it to get Castro to plead guilty to all other charges and accept life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Don’t drag these women through hell.

They have already been there.

As much as a person who beat and starved a woman into having a miscarriage deserves to die, making this a death penalty case will keep it in the courts for decades. The women will be forced to endure a lifetime of appeals.

Is there really a need for a trial? Castro’s attorneys have already said Castro is willing to plead guilty to many of the charges. What do we gain from a trial? The community doesn’t need it. I can’t imagine that the women want it. They shouldn’t have to sit on the witness stand for hours recounting every graphic detail then be cross-examined about it.

What they want is to rebuild their lives.

Kudos to Cleveland for helping them do that. You prayed for these women for a decade. You donated more than a million dollars in two months to the Cleveland Courage Fund. You preserved their privacy.

Let’s keep it up.

Now that the women have gone public, now that everyone knows what they look like today, let’s allow them to walk free among us. Let them go to the movies, the mall, the park, to church without taking photos or asking questions. Let them have the power of their privacy.

The whole world got to see our three warriors this week.

Amanda, Gina and Michelle finally have their freedom. Let’s help them preserve it. Let’s leave them alone to live their new lives

Editor’s note: Regina Brett had voluntarily stopped writing about these three women because her husband, Bruce Hennes, a partner at Hennes Paynter Communications, is working for free with the Jones Day law firm to help the women preserve their privacy. With the release of the video, Plain Dealer Editor Debra Adams Simmons said there was no longer a conflict for Brett.

Join Regina Brett at 3 p.m. Saturdays on WKSU FM/89.7 for “The Regina Brett Show” or online at www.reginabrettshow.org. This week: Summer reading suggestions. Guests include GoodReads Features Editor Jessica Donagh; Dave Ferrante from Visible Voice Books, Suzanne DeGaetano from Mac’s BacksBooks on Coventry and Bob Ethington from Akron-Summit County Public Library.

Ariel Castro pleads not guilty in Ohio kidnapping case

A man accused of holding three women captive in his home for about a decade pleaded not guilty Wednesday, and the defense hinted that it would like to avoid trial with a plea agreement if the death penalty were ruled out.

Attorney Craig Weintraub addressed the death penalty issue after his client, 52-year-old Ariel Castro, pleaded not guilty to hundreds of charges including rape and kidnapping.

Castro, dressed in an orange jail outfit with his hands and ankles shackled and a full dark beard grown in jail, kept his chin tucked on his chest through the brief court appearance. He didn't speak or glance at his two attorneys standing by his side.

Weintraub said the defense was working to avoid an "unnecessary trial" involving the death penalty. Current charges Castro faces involving an alleged forced miscarriage don't include death penalty specifications, but the prosecutor says that's under review.

"Mr. Castro currently faces hundreds of years in prison with the current charges," Weintraub said after the arraignment. "It is our hope that we can continue to work toward a resolution to avoid having an unnecessary trial about aggravated murder and the death penalty."

Joe Frolik, spokesman for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty, said the defense remarks were under review.

The 329-count indictment returned Friday covered only the period from August 2002, when the first of the women disappeared, to February 2007. More charges could be filed.

A statement issued on behalf of the women said days like the arraignment "are not easy" and added: "We are hopeful for a just and prompt resolution. We have great faith in the prosecutor's office and the court."

The grand jury charged Castro with two counts of aggravated murder related to one act, saying he purposely caused the unlawful termination of one of the women's pregnancies. He also was indicted on 139 counts of rape, 177 counts of kidnapping, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, three counts of felonious assault and one count of possession of criminal tools.

News that the women had been found alive electrified the Cleveland area, where two of the victims were household names after years of searches, publicity and vigils. But elation soon turned to shock as allegations about their treatment began to emerge.

The indictment alleges Castro repeatedly restrained the women, sometimes chaining them to a pole in a basement, to a bedroom heater or inside a van. It says one of the women tried to escape and he assaulted her with a vacuum cord around her neck.

Later, he moved them to upstairs rooms where they were kept as virtual prisoners, according to investigators.

All the while, Castro continued driving a school bus and playing bass in local bands, with fellow musicians saying they never suspected a thing. He was fired as a bus driver last fall after leaving his bus unattended for several hours.

Castro has been held on $8 million bail. Last week he was taken off suicide prevention watch in jail. Cuyahoga County jail logs show him spending most of his time sleeping, lying on his bunk, watching TV and occasionally drawing.

Castro was arrested May 6, shortly after one of the women broke through a door and yelled to neighbors for help.

She told a police dispatcher in a dramatic 911 call: "Help me. I'm Amanda Berry. I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years, and I'm, I'm here, I'm free now."

The women - Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight - disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old. Each said they had accepted a ride from Castro, who remained friends with DeJesus' family and even attended vigils over the years marking her disappearance.

The women have spoken publicly since their rescue. WATCH IT HERE: VIDEO

Berry, 27, told officers that she was forced to give birth in a plastic pool in the house so it would be easier to clean up. Berry said she, her baby and the two other women rescued with her had never been to a doctor during their captivity.

Knight, 32, said her five pregnancies ended after Castro starved her for at least two weeks and "repeatedly punched her in the stomach until she miscarried," authorities said.

She also said Castro forced her to deliver Berry's baby under threat of death if the baby died. She said that when the newborn stopped breathing, she revived her through mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

The picture of Castro as a friendly musician began to erode soon after the women were freed, as family members told of a man who terrorized his common-law wife, beating her and locking her in an apartment and the same house where the women were later kept.

Castro's two brothers were arrested the same day but were released at a hearing a few days later after it was determined they weren't aware of the activities their brother is accused of. They denounced him in later interviews.

The Associated Press does not usually identify people who may be victims of sexual assault, but the names of the three women were widely circulated by their families, friends and law enforcement authorities for years during their disappearances and after they were found.

Related Photos

Missing Ohio women found

View all 20 photos

Thank You from Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus & Michelle Knight

Published on Jul 8, 2013

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight would like to say thank you to people from Cleveland and across the world who have offered support to them. They are extremely grateful for the tremendous outpouring of kindness they have received and wished to put voices and faces to their heartfelt messages with this video.

The women still maintain a strong desire for privacy and ask that everyone continue to respect their wishes in that regard going forward. Thank you.

VIDEO INFORMATION:

:00 - :33 Amanda Berry (Survivor)
:43 - :47 Gina DeJesus (Survivor)
:49 - 1:08 Felix DeJesus (Gina's Father)
1:09 -- 1:43 Nancy Ruiz (Gina's Mother)
1:48 -- 3:30 Michelle Knight (Survivor)

NOTES ABOUT THE VIDEO THANK-YOU
The video was filmed on July 2, 2013 at the law offices of Jones Day in Cleveland, Ohio. Visible in the background of the video is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. The male off-camera voice heard in the video is that of Howard Fencl (pronounced FEHN-sill), vice president of Hennes Paynter Communications. The attorneys, public relations firm, social media strategist and videographer involved in the production of this video are all working pro bono on behalf of the three women.

For information about the Cleveland Courage Fund, established to help survivors Michelle Knight, Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Amanda's daughter, please visit www.clevelandcouragefund.org.

If you could see Ariel Castro, what would you say and do?

If you could see Ariel Castro, what would you say and do?

Does Ariel Castro have rights to Amanda Berry's daughter?

The little one escaped from Castro's house along with mom, Michelle and Gina.

In Ohio, if a man fathers a child out of marriage, our legal expert tells us daddy has no immediate legal right to the child.

Than means Amanda Berry is in charge.

"If he wants rights to this child and it's unthinkable at this point, but if he wants to go that route he would go and establish paternity and he could file a petition with the court," said 19 Action News legal expert Attorney Ian Friedman.

Castro just moved to another cell because he's off of suicide precaution watch.

Officials believe he won't hurt himself.  He's still alone but the jail pod he's housed in has other inmates. 

Castro gets 20 minutes at a time to walk around the pod, just like he use to walk around his backyard with his daughter.

In an earlier aired exclusive interview with 19 Action News Scott Taylor, Storm Pusztay, a former neighbor of Castro said, "He was stern one time with her. That's because she was looking through the picket fence at me."

Castro's former backyard neighbor also remembers both of them acting like daughter and daddy.

"I honestly can say he treated that little girl good," added Pusztay. 

Castro's mom has visited her son three times in jail and his sister twice. So far no visit from his little daughter and while he can file for visitation from jail -- but he shouldn't hold his breath.

"Any one can file for paternity. You can ask for what ever you want getting what you want is a whole different story. That's not going to happen here," added Attorney Ian Friedman.

Copyright 2013 WOIO. All rights reserved.

WE CARE ABOUT Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus, and Michele Knight!!!!

Alot of us remember when the girls went missing, we prayed for them and their families, and always wondered would they be found alive. Now that they are found, they don't want pictures, etc taken of them. 

People like myself and fans on this page don't want to see pictures for any harmful or negative reason, we want to see pictures and updates because WE TRULY CARE! We are still praying and sending donations for ALL 3 women. I would hate for anything we post regarding the girls and updating the people who truly care to be taken the wrong way or as if we are trying to disrespect their privacy. 

Sincerely, Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus, and Michele Knight FOUND ALIVE

Michelle Knight Vows To Get Her Son Back After Kidnapping Hell

Michelle’s brother Freddie Knight said that the kidnapping victim has one goal since getting her freedom: she wants to ‘get her baby back.’

Before Michelle Knight was kidnapped in Cleveland, Ohio, she gave birth to a son called Joey when she was 21-years-old. Joey is now 13-years-old and living in foster care, and for the ten years Michelle spent trapped in Ariel Castro‘s basement, she kept a notebook of drawings she made for him. Now her brotherFreddie Knight said Michelle’s one aim since being released is to get her son back.

Michelle Knight Wants To Get Her Son Joey Back

Michelle, now 32, has been recovering in an undisclosed location since being released, and while she does not want to see her mother, she is anxious to be reunited with her son. Michelle has not seen Joey since he was 2-years-old.

“For sure,” Freddie told PEOPLE during a hospital visit with Michelle, “I know she wants to get her baby back.”

Michelle showed Freddie all the pictures she drew of Joey while she was in captivity, and many of them were of him. She has since stopped allowing her family to visit her at hospital.

Michelle is clearly still hurting from the difficult relationship she had with her family when she was growing up, but it is clear the thoughts of seeing her son again helped her get through the torture of being held captive. 

Michelle Had A Difficult Life Before Being Kidnapped

Michelle was reportedly abused by her mother and had a hard life before she was kidnapped her in 2004. Her mother Barbara Knight said that she now lives in Florida and hopes that Michelle will forgive her and move in with her there. But Michelle is reportedly not speaking at all to her mom.

I don’t want her to think that I forgot about her. Hopefully whatever happened between us, if something did, I hope it heals because I really want to take her back to Florida with me.

Michelle is reportedly so disappointed with her mom that she went to fellow survivor Gina DeJesus.

Michelle Is Not Living With Gina DeJesus

HollywoodLife.com previously reported that Gina’s family had offered to take Michelle in, since she is estranged from her family.

But a source tells HollywoodLife.com otherwise:

It’s not true. Michelle is at an unknown location and she’s not going to live with Gina’s family. That’s something that has been exaggerated.

What do YOU think HollywoodLifers? Do YOU think Michelle is right to try form a bond with her son?

WATCH: Amanda Berry & Michelle Knight Return Home After 10 Years

Amanda Berry pictured visiting her dad in Tennessee over Father’s Day weekend

SPLASH NEWS/SPLASH NEWS

Cleveland kidnap victim Amanda Berry is enjoying her newfound freedom, having shared an emotional reunion with her dying father. She saw her dad, Johnny, for the first time in more than a decade over Father's Day weekend in Tennessee.

• Prosecutors hoping to pile on additional charges against Cleveland ‘monster’ Ariel Castro 
• Ariel Castro pleads not guilty to hundreds of rape, kidnapping charges in Ohio kidnap case  
• Grand jury slams Ariel Castro with 329-count indictment 
• Ariel Castro’s Cleveland ‘house of horrors’ backyard shows mundane face of evil (PICTURES)

Free at last.

Amanda Berry spent 10 years trapped in the lair of a monster, but when you look at her two months after her miraculous escape, nothing about her appearance betrays her pain.

New photographs have emerged of the 27-year-old Cleveland woman visiting her family in Tennessee over Father's Day after allegedly being held against her will by kidnap creep Ariel Castro.

Her father, Johnny Berry, told the National Enquirer in an exclusive interview that father and daughter had a tearful reunion over Father's Day.

RELATED: CLEVELAND KIDNAP VICTIMS TO DECIDE FATE OF ARIEL CASTRO'S DOGS

SPLASH NEWS/SPLASH NEWS

Berry visited her father, Johnny Berry, with her 6-year-old daughter Jocelyn. She also gave him a silver ring that said “DAD.”

"When Amanda came through my front door, it was like a miracle," he told the tabloid. "She started crying and ran up to me, and we hugged for the first time in 10 years. I had tears in my eyes the size of raindrops."

Berry also gave her father a silver ring with the word "DAD" engraved on it.

These photographs of Berry from June 15 are the first of the young woman since she was pictured in a Cleveland hospital next to her sister, Beth Serrano, and her 6-year-old daughter, Jocelyn, who was fathered by Castro.

Johnny Berry, who suffers from a pulmonary disease, is nearly paralyzed from his condition and said he was worried he wouldn't live to see his daughter's face again. He told the paper he was overjoyed to meet his granddaughter for the first time too.

RELATED: BILL WOULD GIVE MONEY, AID TO OHIO KIDNAP VICTIMS

HANDOUT

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were held captive in the Cleveland home of Ariel Castro for a decade. They said Wednesday through their attorneys that they want the case to be over as soon as possible so they can continue to heal.

"She gave me a hug, and I instantly knew deep in my heart that she's a Berry," he said.

Amanda Berry said she will visit soon, making the eight-hour drive from Cleveland to Tennessee from her sister's house.

Castro, meanwhile, will undergo an evaluation Wednesday to determine if he is mentally competent to stand trial for his alleged crimes of kidnapping, rape, and sexual assault.

The 52-year-old former bus driver has pleaded not guilty to 329 counts against him, which include allegedly kidnapping Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight and holding them captive for a decade.

RELATED: CLEVELAND KIDNAP CREEP ARIEL CASTRO COULD FACE EVEN MORE CHARGES

MARK DUNCAN/AP

A Cleveland police patrol car sits in front of the boarded-up home of Ariel Castro in Cleveland on May 14.

Prosecutor Tim McGinty said that he will be seeking additional charges against Castro, saying that he knew what he was doing when he allegedly kidnapped the three young women.

Michelle Knight's attorney, Kathy Joseph, said in a release Wednesday that drawing out the charges means the case itself will be drawn out. "The longer this process lasts, the more painful it is for them," she wrote.

"And the more sordid details of this horror that get disclosed in this process, the more painful it is for them."

Berry and DeJesus' attorney, James Wooly, added in an additional statement: "The simple, honest truth is they would like it to be over. They want this whole thing behind them. Any date set by which this may end is like the light at the end of a tunnel."

With News Wire services

bstebner@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/amanda-berry-pictured-father-day-weekend-article-1.1383112#ixzz2YVYSfVX6