This must have been the answer to their families' prayers

3 brothers arrested as missing women found in Ohio

Three women who went missing in separate cases about a decade ago were found alive in a residential area of Cleveland on Monday, and police said three brothers were arrested in the case.

Cleveland's police chief says he thinks three women were tied up in the house where they were found and had been there since they disappeared.

A hospital physician said all three are in "fair condition."

Cheering crowds gathered Monday night on the street near the home where police said Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were found earlier in the day.

"This isn't the ending we usually hear to these stories, so we're very happy,'' said Gerald Maloney, an emergency room physician at the Cleveland hospital where all three were being treated.

"They are able to speak with us. Beyond that, I can't go into any further details,'' Maloney said.

Cleveland police released the frantic 911 call Berry made after escaping from the house where she had been living.

"I'm Amanda Berry ... I've been missing for 10 years and I'm here -- I'm free now," she said, her voice distraught and quick, according to an audio recording of the call released Monday night.

A six-year-old was also found. The imagination runs wild, of course, as to what they may have endured, but as Berry put it, they are free now. Best wishes to each of them. Also, according to a story by The Guardian, a man named Charles Ramsey helped Berry escape:



Kudos to him for not turning away from someone in trouble.

Update: Another man also responded to the cries for help, named Angel Cordero--in fact he may actually have been the first to respond. Also Wintel Tejeda let Berry make the 911 call from the Tejeda home. Kudos to them, as well. Also, the three brothers Ariel Castro (the owner of the house and the man identified as the alleged abductor), Pedro Castro, and Onil Castro, all brothers, have been identified and arrested in connexion with the case. The 6-year-old girl, Jocelyn, has been identified by police as the daughter of Amanda Berry. Just as an aside, Ariel Castro was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Ohio as a child. It amazes me how many comments on news stories were by people who seem to have no idea that Puerto Rico is a territory of the US and as a result, he's just as American as I am. Just because a person's Latino does not mean they're illegal or from another country. Nor does his ethnicity have anything to do with being a kidnapper and general monster of a person. Geez.