Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, the three women who Cleveland police said were held captive in a home for almost a decade have issued a YouTube video in which they thanked the public for the encouragement and financial support that are allowing them to restart their lives, the Associated Press reported.
The 30-second video posted on Monday underscored their appreciation to the support and prayers of family, friends and the public have given them to begin rebuilding their lives after "this entire ordeal,' Berry said.
The three women went missing separately between 2002 and 2004 when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old, news reports said.
In the video, the three women appeared upbeat, and showed few visible scars of the abuse they reportedly suffered at the hands of their abductor Ariel Castro, a 52-year-old former bus driver. Castro fathered a 6-year-old daughter with Berry, and is also accused of starving and physically abusing Knight, which caused her to miscarry. Castro was arrested on May 6, shortly after Berry broke through a door at the home, and proceeded to yell for neighbors to help them escape.
The YouTube video was filmedand released by Hennes Paynter Communications, a public relations agency working on the women's behalf with the cooperation of their lawyers, the AP reported.
"I may have been through hell and back, but I am strong enough to walk through hell with a smile on my face and my head held high," Knight said. "I will not let the situation define who I am. I will define the situation. I don't want to be consumed by hatred."
