Michele Knight Photos Missing? Mother Barbara Knight Never Lost Hope after Daughter Kidnapped by Suspect Ariel Castro
Michele Knight was one of the three women rescued from a Cleveland home on Monday night, and her mother said she never gave up hope of reuniting with her daughter.
From the moment Michele Knight vanished in 2002, Barbara Knight never believed authorities who told her that her daughter likely ran away, she told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
After Michele disappeared, cops and social workers told the family that Michele may have run off because she was angry that she lost custody of her son, Knight's grandmother, Deborah Knight, told the publication. Barbara, who lives in Florida, heard from news accounts that Michele, now 32, was one of three women rescued from a house in West Cleveland by a neighbor who heard one of their screams.
She told the publication, "So much has happened in these 10 years. She has a younger sister she still has not met. I missed her so much while she was gone."
The other two women found are Amanda Berry, now 26, and Gina DeJesus, now 23. A six-year-old girl was also rescued and she is reportedly Berry's daughter. The captive gave birth in the house that she was held in against her will. The women were saved after Berry managed to escape the house, get the attention of a neighbor and call police.
Photos of Berry and DeJesus have been circulating around the Web but images of Michele are scare and almost impossible to find. An ABC News report video still shot, shown below, proves the difficulty reporters are facing trying to find a photo of Michele. A question mark is in place of he's image, whereas photos are widely available of Berry and DeJesus.
Michele's case received the least attention locally out of the three women, according to authorities.
"She was the focus of very few tips and leads that we got," Cleveland Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba told reporters at a news conference Tuesday. "Most of the media and the community awareness was...generated toward the [other] two young girls."
Three brothers who lived at the home were taken into custody on Monday, according to New York Daily News. Police identified them as Ariel Castro, 52, the home's owner; Onil Castro, 50, and Pedro Castro, 54.