A number of Cleveland residents said Tuesday that they had called police after seeing or hearing strange things at the Castro home, where three women allegedly were held hostage for a decade. But city police, while not accusing anyone of lying, are pushing back against accusations they didn’t do their job.
“We don’t know that [police] were called to this house. So far, nothing has been there to back it up,” Cleveland Detective Jeff Follmer told CNN. “Everybody is going to come out of the woodwork right now and say they called police, but until we find some facts to say they were in that house or by that house for a call, it’s not true. We take missing children very seriously.”
On its Twitter page, the Cleveland Police Department wrote that an “extensive search of call intake system did NOT show any calls to Seymour [Street] house for women held or women banging on windows.”
Police eventually did show up at the Castro brothers’ home Monday night after Amanda Berry staged a daring escape from the home with the help of a neighbor. She then called 911, and authorities found the other two captives, Georgina “Gina” DeJesus and Michelle Knight, in the home.
Ms. Berry’s 6-year-old daughter, Jocelyn, also was inside.
Police aren’t the only ones accused of dropping the ball in the case. The 911 call-taker who talked to Ms. Berry is under fire for hanging up before police arrived at the scene.
Cleveland officials have promised a thorough review of the incident.
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
