Amanda Berry, a woman missing for 10 years, and two other women were rescued on May 6 by Cleveland officers; watch their emotional recounting of the rescue.
Responding to a 911 call on May 6, Cleveland Police Officers Anthony Espada, Michael Tracy, and Barbara Johnson followed the directions of Amanda Berry, a woman who had been missing for 10 years, to the house where they found three kidnapped women.
Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, and Georgina DeJesus had been kidnapped by Ariel Castro between 2002 and 2004 and held captive ever since. The officers who found them have given a rare insight into their experiences in rescuing the three terrified women with their video recount of the events.
“It’s very overwhelming—I mean, it took everything to hold myself together,” said Officer Espada.
One of the women had run into Officer Johnson’s arms, sobbing her plea: “Please don’t let me go! Please don’t let me go!”
“It kind of seemed like an eternity, but it was so quick at the same time,” Officer Johnson said, “the way you didn’t hear anything, and then all of a sudden it was almost like the pitter-patter of feet running towards you. And the next thing I know, someone is in Officer Espada’s arms.”
“Words can’t explain what was going through our minds that day,” Officer Tracy added. “It was just an overload of information—and happiness to find those three girls and the daughter alive. It was just unbelievable.”
According to the officers, it took only 30 seconds to locate Castro at a local McDonalds. The effort of the whole police force that day led to his immediate capture and arrest.
“It was a team effort—not just for us. We just responded. It was a great team effort from everybody that was involved, from the patrolmen, supervisor, detectives, everybody that assisted. There was just a great job by everybody.”
Feature Video: Kathy Allen/YouTube
Video: CNN
“Cleveland Officers Recount Finding Missing Women”
The cops didn’t find anything..
Some might say they dropped the ball.
This is so moving, to see these officers so honest and bare. Great heroes.