months. Something needs to be done.”
Councilman Zack Reed called for council members, the police and school leaders to work together on a plan to make the streets of Cleveland safer for children.
“We must … get more eyes on the children as they walk to and from school,” he said. “And we must teach young people to walk in pairs or to find safe houses, if they feel they are in danger.”
Fifteen FBI agents were now working the Gina DeJesus case full-time, and the agency offered a reward for any information leading to her being found.
Special Agent Robert Hawk, who had led the search for Amanda Berry, was again in charge. He told the Plain Dealer that his men were now running down hundreds of leads, as well as interviewing Gina’s classmates and neighbors.
Back at West 71st Street, Felix DeJesus had turned his home into an unofficial search headquarters, as he and his wife Nancy coordinated scores of volunteers in the hunt for their daughter. They worked around the clock, feeding and handing out fliers to the helpers who were blanketing Cleveland with them.
One afternoon, Ariel Castro arrived at their house and hugged Nancy, offering his sympathy and help. He then left with a handful of fliers.
Gina DeJesus’s disappearance was now front-page news, leading off every local news program. And there was real fear on the streets of the West Side that no child was safe.
“They called it the Bermuda Triangle,” remembered Michelle McDowell, who lived nearby. “It was really awful just to think about, and I was very scared because of my stepdaughters.”
West Side resident Lupe Collins said the whole community was living in terror.
“There was a fear,” she said. “It was hard for us. [Everyone] was afraid to let their daughters walk to school. We didn’t know what was going on. Where did they go? How did they just vanish?”
The two girls’ disappearances had also become a hot political issue. On Tuesday morning, Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell and a deputation of city leaders arrived at the DeJesus house to comfort Gina’s parents. Outside on the lawn was a shrine to Gina, bedecked with photographs, yellow ribbons and religious symbols.
The mayor met with Felix and Nancy, who then joined her for a news conference at the First District Police Headquarters.
“I have a fourteen-year-old daughter myself,” Mayor Campbell told the press, “and I know a little bit about what fourteen-year-olds are like. Nobody’s going to get into any trouble. Just tell us what you know.”
A weary-looking Felix DeJesus then thanked the community for all its help and prayers to find his daughter.
“It’s been hard,” he said.
After the conference, the media were given a photograph showing the clothing Gina was wearing the day she disappeared.
That night, the six o’clock news led off with the latest on the search for Gina.
“By air. On ground. Every inch of Cleveland’s West Side is under the microscope,” said a reporter, “as investigators along with bloodhounds work around the clock to track this missing girl.”
An unnamed female volunteer was then interviewed, echoing the feelings of so many others moved by the terrible plight of the DeJesus family.
“I knew I had to come out,” she said, “because I know what they’re going through. [I] just hope this case ends with a safe return of a precious life.”
The search was also being closely followed at 2207 Seymour Avenue. Michelle Knight had immediately recognized Gina as the younger sister of her high school friend Mayra. But when she asked Ariel Castro if he had taken a fourteen-year-old girl, he denied it.
“He would come to my room [and] tell me, ‘I didn’t take her,’” said Michelle. “And I’ll look up at him and [say], ‘You’re a damn liar. I know you took that girl.’”
On Wednesday morning, Cleveland police rounded up every known sex offender living on the West Side, questioning them about Gina’s disappearance. Seven men
Councilman Zack Reed called for council members, the police and school leaders to work together on a plan to make the streets of Cleveland safer for children.
“We must … get more eyes on the children as they walk to and from school,” he said. “And we must teach young people to walk in pairs or to find safe houses, if they feel they are in danger.”
Fifteen FBI agents were now working the Gina DeJesus case full-time, and the agency offered a reward for any information leading to her being found.
Special Agent Robert Hawk, who had led the search for Amanda Berry, was again in charge. He told the Plain Dealer that his men were now running down hundreds of leads, as well as interviewing Gina’s classmates and neighbors.
Back at West 71st Street, Felix DeJesus had turned his home into an unofficial search headquarters, as he and his wife Nancy coordinated scores of volunteers in the hunt for their daughter. They worked around the clock, feeding and handing out fliers to the helpers who were blanketing Cleveland with them.
One afternoon, Ariel Castro arrived at their house and hugged Nancy, offering his sympathy and help. He then left with a handful of fliers.
Gina DeJesus’s disappearance was now front-page news, leading off every local news program. And there was real fear on the streets of the West Side that no child was safe.
“They called it the Bermuda Triangle,” remembered Michelle McDowell, who lived nearby. “It was really awful just to think about, and I was very scared because of my stepdaughters.”
West Side resident Lupe Collins said the whole community was living in terror.
“There was a fear,” she said. “It was hard for us. [Everyone] was afraid to let their daughters walk to school. We didn’t know what was going on. Where did they go? How did they just vanish?”
The two girls’ disappearances had also become a hot political issue. On Tuesday morning, Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell and a deputation of city leaders arrived at the DeJesus house to comfort Gina’s parents. Outside on the lawn was a shrine to Gina, bedecked with photographs, yellow ribbons and religious symbols.
The mayor met with Felix and Nancy, who then joined her for a news conference at the First District Police Headquarters.
“I have a fourteen-year-old daughter myself,” Mayor Campbell told the press, “and I know a little bit about what fourteen-year-olds are like. Nobody’s going to get into any trouble. Just tell us what you know.”
A weary-looking Felix DeJesus then thanked the community for all its help and prayers to find his daughter.
“It’s been hard,” he said.
After the conference, the media were given a photograph showing the clothing Gina was wearing the day she disappeared.
That night, the six o’clock news led off with the latest on the search for Gina.
“By air. On ground. Every inch of Cleveland’s West Side is under the microscope,” said a reporter, “as investigators along with bloodhounds work around the clock to track this missing girl.”
An unnamed female volunteer was then interviewed, echoing the feelings of so many others moved by the terrible plight of the DeJesus family.
“I knew I had to come out,” she said, “because I know what they’re going through. [I] just hope this case ends with a safe return of a precious life.”
The search was also being closely followed at 2207 Seymour Avenue. Michelle Knight had immediately recognized Gina as the younger sister of her high school friend Mayra. But when she asked Ariel Castro if he had taken a fourteen-year-old girl, he denied it.
“He would come to my room [and] tell me, ‘I didn’t take her,’” said Michelle. “And I’ll look up at him and [say], ‘You’re a damn liar. I know you took that girl.’”
On Wednesday morning, Cleveland police rounded up every known sex offender living on the West Side, questioning them about Gina’s disappearance. Seven men
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