Ariel Castro’s House Address is Still a House of Horrors
Family of Ariel Castro, who tortured three women for more than 10 years at his Cleveland home, find it hard to reconcile the fond memories they hold with what occurred there. Edwin, Ariel Castro’s nephew, can’t shake the vision of 2207 Seymour Avenue being transformed into “house of horrors”, even after it has been demolished and Castro sentenced to life for abducting, torturing and sexually molesting Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight while repeatedly raping them multiple times.
On May 6, 2013, Ariel Castro lived a typical working-class life in Tremont’s Tremont neighborhood. He drove a bus, as did many others on his block, sometimes leaving children on board alone. Though his marriage had its ups and downs, Tremont remained an entirely normal working class neighborhood.
On a fateful May morning, Castro left without locking his two-story home’s large interior door, unaware that Berry would call out screaming for help at any point during her day trip. Luckily, when Berry began screaming for help they quickly ran to help and kicked down its storm door to break her into.
Knight and DeJesus began to recount their horrific ordeal of being held captive by Castro for over one year in their rooms. One year to the date of public disclosure of these abductions, Craig Weintraub, lawyer for all three women involved as well as Berry’s six-year-old daughter told CNN that Castro knew it could no longer keep hold of them but did not have the guts to turn himself in.
That summer, construction crews demolished the house that had been home for more than a decade of terror and horror, drawing large crowds of onlookers who cheered as wrecking equipment tore through walls with speed. Relatives of some women living there even got to man excavator controls briefly so they could experience first-hand their former captivity for themselves for the first time ever.
Over time, the three women and girl were placed on display as part of a series of press conferences to thank those who had supported them and provide updates regarding what had transpired while being held captive. Furthermore, they also spoke openly with media about what lessons had been learned while held captive.
Google Maps now shows 2207 Seymour Avenue as a blurred out block, suggesting there must be an compelling reason for its inclusion. That may have been the case here – though rarely seen within murder cases itself – with closeness to acts of sexual and violent misconduct too close for comfort to overlook – check out censored street view of Ariel Castro house here.