CLEVELAND — It’s a story that made headlines not only here in Ohio, but around the world. Three young women were kidnapped, held captive, raped and tortured inside a Cleveland home for nearly a decade.
Saturday marks the tenth anniversary of their rescue.
What You Need To Know
- On May 6, 2013, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were rescued from a house in Cleveland ending nearly a decade of torture and abuse in captivity. This year marks their 10th anniversary of freedom
- Michelle Knight was 21 years old when she was abducted on Aug. 23, 2002
- Knight now uses the name “Lily Rose Lee” and started Unleashed Animal Rescue with her husband
With each passing day, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight continue down their own paths toward healing.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes of its previous life, Knight is a symbol of hope.
She now goes by the name “Lily Rose Lee” and is settling into a new home surrounded by several feathered friends. The birds were all surrendered to or rescued by Lee.
“Hey little munchkin,” she said while taking a bright yellow and orange conure out of its cage. “She loves to sing and dance.”
Lee works with each new addition to her flock to learn its personality and provide training.
Animals are a passion her husband Miguel Rodriguez shares.
“But she got me into the birds,” he said. “I never interacted with birds and I’m like, ‘Wow.’ I just couldn’t believe how smart they are.”
Together, the couple started the nonprofit Unleashed Animal Rescue last year to help pets in need find loving homes. It’s a commitment, but one for which Lee has a special understanding.
“If they’ve been abused, they can be a little bit unforgiving,” she said. “But eventually you can get them to open up to you. It just takes a lot of hard work. And time.”
Lee is also putting in the work and time toward her own recovery. This year she celebrates two major milestones on May 6: her tenth anniversary of freedom and eighth wedding anniversary.
“If you went through the amount of things I went through in my life, with child abuse, then being held captive for 11 years, things like this are tremendously big for you,” she said.
Lee was 21 years old on Aug. 23, 2002, when she was abducted by Ariel Castro. More than a decade later, on May 6, 2013, Lee and two other women, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, were rescued from a house on Seymour Avenue in Cleveland where they were held captive, raped and abused.
Castro was sentenced to life in prison for the crimes and later died by suicide in jail.
“Everyone asks me how are you able to stay so strong?” Lee said. “Well, the simple answer to that is, I don’t let the monster control the life that I have now.”
Now at age 41, Lee said the monster, Castro, actually inspired her mission to save animals.
“The day that he killed an animal in front of me,” she said. “And that day I vowed if I ever made the decision to rescue animals that I would call it ‘Unleashed Animal Rescue.’ Because I wouldn’t want them to feel caged all the time. I would want them to be free. And have a second chance at life. They deserve it.”
Lee is now helping about 30 animals find forever homes, including tortoises, frogs, chameleons, bunnies and chicks.
“I see these little angles coming and I see how they never got that love,” she said. “And how they yearn for it.”
Lee said she’s felt the unconditional love from animals her entire life.
“It was so much easier to talk to them versus talking to a human,” she said. “Because they didn’t say it was all your fault. Or they didn’t tell you you’re a liar.”
In the future, Lee said she wants to help provide pets as a form of therapy to others who’ve faced traumatic situations.
“In mysterious ways, as God works in mysterious ways, He puts little angels in our life to help us through a hard time,” she said.
Lee and Rodriguez have room to grow their rescue outside their home with plans to build additional facilities to house more animals.
Rodriguez said he’s still amazed at his wife’s resilience.
“It’s like, how?” he said. “How do you do it? How do you just keep moving forward like you do?”
He said they met through mutual friends after her rescue and since then have helped each other through both the “better and the worse.”
“I’ve seen her come out of this shell and just grow back into a blossomed flower,” Rodriguez said. “I’m here to make sure she keeps going. And she keeps me going.”
While focusing on the future, Lee is still a product of her past and wants to share her journey with others.
“In the hope that they can see the strength within themselves,” she said. “That they are the hero of their own story.”
Showing the world the strength she’s gained through the trauma while triumphing over tragedy.
“I’m a strong and powerful woman and my voice carries,” Lee said. “I want to be the voice for the voiceless.”
Unleashed Animal Rescue is hosting a “Tragedy to Triumph” fundraiser from 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday at Windows on the River in Cleveland.
Foster and adoptive homes are needed for the rescued animals, and information is available on Facebook.
