Escaped Kidnap Victim: ‘I Got Married In A Dress I Designed In My Hideous Dungeon'

Shackled and subjected to daily sexual assault, kidnap victim Michelle Knight dreamed about the moment she would finally be free to love – even designing her fantasy wedding dress

Five years ago, Michelle Knight, then 32, escaped from a ramshackle Cleveland home, following 11 years of imprisonment at the hands of a monster. Locked in a basement, she was repeatedly raped by school bus driver Ariel Castro. She fell pregnant five times – but was starved and beaten until she miscarried.

Finally, however, Michelle is putting the harrowing ordeal behind her. In June 2014, she met Miguel Rodriquez, 39, through mutual friends on Facebook. And in May 2016 – on the third anniversary of her release – they got married.

Michelle says, “There were times in that basement when I wanted to kill myself. I was almost always in chains, even on the rare occasion I was allowed to take a shower. But now I live for every single day. Even horror stories can have a fairy-tale ending.”

TORTURED 

Michelle went missing on 22 August 2002, aged 21. She had been on her way to a foster care appointment in an attempt to win back custody of her two-year-old son, Joey. She’d approached Castro – the father of a friend – at a supermarket to ask for directions. He’d offered her a lift, but said he needed to stop by his house. He then asked if she’d like to come inside to see his new puppy.

Michelle says, “When I walked into the house, he slammed the door shut.

Suddenly, he dragged me to an upstairs bedroom. The windows were nailed shut, and Castro tied me to the wall with an extension lead, before masturbating over me. Then he gagged me and left. I remember thinking this was it – this is where I was going to die.”