What Life in Captivity Was Like for Cleveland Kidnapping Survivors Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus

"He started showing me around the house, and I never got back out," Berry said.

ByABC News
April 27, 2015, 7:44 AM

— -- On May 6, 2013, the city of Cleveland witnessed a miracle when Amanda Berry called 911 from a neighbor’s phone.

“I’ve been kidnapped and been missing for 10 years. I’m here. I’m free now,” Berry, now 29, told the 911 operator.

Berry, along with Gina DeJesus, now 25, and Michelle Knight, had been held captive for more than 10 years by Ariel Castro. Castro kidnapped each of the women between 2002 and 2004.

For years, the women endured unimaginable abuse, as they were chained, starved and tortured by Castro. But during their captivity, they held on to the conviction that their families would never give up on them. That faith helped bring them home.

PHOTO: Written with Washington Post journalists Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan, Cleveland kidnapping survivors Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus' book, "Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland," was released on April 27, 2015.
Written with Washington Post journalists Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan, Cleveland kidnapping survivors Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus' book, "Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland," was released on April 27, 2015.

Berry and DeJesus together wrote their memoir, “Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland,” with Washington Post journalists Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan, and it was released on April 27. The two young women say they have since moved on with their lives.

PHOTO: Ariel Castro abducted Amanda Berry the day before her 17th birthday.
Ariel Castro abducted Amanda Berry the day before her 17th birthday.