Three brothers arrested in US kidnap case: police

Three brothers in their 50s have been arrested in connection with the discovery of three kidnapped women in the US city of Cleveland, after they had been missing for about a decade, police said today.

Ariel Castro, 52, and two brothers of his have been taken into custody, Cleveland police chief Michael McGrath told a press conference after the dramatic escape of the three women from their captors last evening.

Police identified the other brothers as 54-year-old Pedro Castro and 50-year-old Oneil Castro.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said there were still “several unanswered questions” about the case, and authorities stressed that as the investigation was ongoing, many facts could not be discussed.

The three women — Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight — were found yesterday in a home in Cleveland, not far from where each went missing.

Berry’s screams for help led a neighbour to free her from the home, and thus prompted the discovery of the other two women, as well as Berry’s six-year-old daughter.

Due to Amanda’s brave actions, these three women are alive today,” Cleveland police chief Michael McGrath told
reporters.

————————(AFP)