Today, my heart sunk when a relative got a text that we thought was a too far fetched to be true...but we reacted immediately with phone calls to see if it was true as we didn't have a TV available to see the news...within minutes we were sure the news was true....they found Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus, and Michelle Knight alive along with a little girl later to be found out to be Amanda's daughter. We all jumped for joy, dropped all our work, and ran to the location between West 25th and Scranton on Seymour Avenue where hundreds of people had already swarmed with the same sense of unity and love we shared. http://realneo.us/system/files/2013-05-06_19.47.30b.jpg [2] By the time we arrived; both ends of the street were yellow taped off, film crews were lined up everywhere, and people were lined up as far as you could see with rumors flying about various things overheard. I carried my child for several blocks to get closer and see if any of our community leaders were there.... the police were posted and keeping the crowd at bay...no one was getting any new information; but soon Charles was being overwhelmed with cheers after doing his interviews about how he had heard Amanda's screams and how he helped to kick out the door for her to escape. I saw Commander Sulzer doing relations with his officers. I saw the reporters busy reporting tidbits. No one had the full story as of that point. I heard a rumor that the family had come to say Thank You to Charles; the guy who helped Amanda Berry out of the house and to call 911. As the hair on my arms stood up with absolute amazement and shock over this story and realizing that these girls were all alive; it hit me just how deeply our community at large was totally united for this one moment in time for these young ladies and their families...They are heroes; all of them.... http://realneo.us/system/files/2013-05-06_19.49.32.jpg [3] They have survived years of imprisonment against their will in America; on an average street in a regular city. No one ever suspected them to be there. But as I walked away and around the block; the lady who lived behind that property with a couple little curious girls stated that the guy had yelled at the girls a few days before as they had snuck to the rear fence perimeter off of Castle avenue. The lady outlined how the girls had just days before told her that they had heard women screaming and how she shunned it off. She was in a state of shock as well. Realizing that her children had probably heard the ladies in captivity and not known where it was coming from in order to validate their youthful claims was chilling to the bone. Soon; I was buckling my baby into the car seat...and as I got to the house and checked the news and facebook dialogues; it was rampant and everywhere. I talked to my daughter immediately to explain why mommy worries so much about her safety. She quote, unquote called the guy in this case a "SICKO".... As I got home; I thought of my friends' children and worried about so many kids we know. The phone rang all night with friends notifying me of this story in shock. Through the night I've heard a lot about Amanda and Gina; but little about Michelle. Apparently her family moved to Florida and as of late this evening; they were still awaiting police notification directly that it was their daughter/granddaughter. (Cleveland.com) Ultimately; the police were blamed for her case being left out of the spotlight. It is absurd to think about the "normal" statements about their kidnapper. The neighbors and community at large he actively engaged is amazingly unreal. He was so not the suspect in this case. He had a normal Facebook where he touted the birth of his 5th grandchild. Surreal. His family at large was being interviewed throughout the day. Then; the news said that he and his 2 brothers were arrested in connection with this case. This news was comforting...but still discerning in the grand scheme. We live amongst some of America's Most Wanted and remain stumped about what's going on with our own neighbors. When did American's become so complacent? I'll bet when this is all said and done; so many connections will come to the surface in this case that our heads will spin. Yet; the reality that the yard is a target of the investigation leads us to wonder are there any dead bodies of other missing girls there???? It's all spooky. The real truth is that it is scary and yet we all embrace eachother and unite to support these ladies in being reintegrated into the community at large. They will definitely suffer from PTSD and so much more. Stockholm syndrome? Their lives will forever be tainted by this sentence they have endured. I pray that our community at large forever holds them tight and empowers them to live good lives. While I could list the failures of the police or remark about the pathetic 911 operator who took this call-I'll stop myself. I want to end this with a prayer for the ladies and their families and our community at large... Check your neighbors basements....if they won't let you....ask yourself why? How many more missing persons are being held hostage in America....????? How many more dead bodies are laying in yards in Cleveland, Ohio? Despite the best attempts by our fine leaders in Blue....there have been severe mistakes along the line by their predecessors. I pray that more live people are recovered in this war on human trafficking in Ohio. We are Petitioning City of Cleveland, Department of Public Safety, Division of Police 2 City of Cleveland, Department of Public Safety, Division of Police: FIRE THE DISPATCHER WHO TOOK THE AMANDA BERRY 911 CALL on 5/6/13. http://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-cleveland-department-of-public-s... [4]
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Links:
[1] http://smtp.realneo.us/content/2013-05-06194621bjpg
[2] http://realneo.us/system/files/2013-05-06_19.47.30b.jpg
[3] http://realneo.us/system/files/2013-05-06_19.49.32.jpg
[4] http://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-cleveland-department-of-public-safety-division-of-police-fire-the-dispatcher-who-took-the-amanda-berry-911-call-on-5-6-13#
[5] http://smtp.realneo.us/system/files/2013-05-06_19.49.32.jpg
[6] http://smtp.realneo.us/system/files/2013-05-06_19.47.30b.jpg