Everything We Know About Cleveland Kidnapping Suspect Ariel Castro
screenshotDetails are still emerging in the strange case of three missing Cleveland women who all escaped alive yesterday from a house owned by 52-year-old Ariel Castro.
Here's what we know so far about the man arrested in the case:
Amanda Berry named Castro as her captor when she called 911. She was able to provide his age and a brief description of him during her frantic call to police. Castro owns the home where the three missing women were found.
Neighbors thought Castro's home was vacant. Neighbor Juan Perez told the Today show that he didn't think anyone lived at the house because he rarely saw anyone there. Perez assumed Castro lived elsewhere and just stopped by periodically to check on the property.
Perez also called Castro "charismatic" and said he liked to play with neighborhood kids. The neighbor told ABC News that Castro would give neighborhood children rides up and down the block on his four-wheeler or bicycle.
His two brothers were also arrested in the case. Investigators believe they might have helped him, but the brothers did not live at the house where the women were kept.
He was a school bus driver. Police were went to his home in 2004 after child welfare officers said he left a child unattended on a bus. Officers determined that there was no criminal intent.
He was arrested in 1993 for domestic violence. A grand jury declined to indict him. He was also arrested for disorderly conduct that same year and pleaded guilty to the charge.
One of the women held in the house apparently knew Castro. A local Cleveland news station is reporting that Castro was related to Gina DeJesus' best friend, and might have been the friend's father. DeJesus went missing when she was 14 years old. She was walking home from school.
Castro attended at least two vigils for the missing girls.
He's active on Facebook. This page has been identified as belonging to Castro. It seems pretty normal at first glance — he posts about his grandchildren and other family members.
A woman who appears to be Castro's daughter is serving a 25-year prison sentence. Emily Castro was convicted in 2008 of attempted murder for slashing her 11-month-old daughter's throat. She was 20 at the time of her conviction, and her brother said she's mentally ill. Her daughter has since made a full recovery.