Cleveland Kidnap Victim Michelle Knight Slips Away From Hospital and Family
CLEVELAND, May 10, 2013— -- Cleveland kidnap victim Michelle Knight, who may have had the most harrowing ordeal in Ariel Castro's house, slipped away today from the hospital where she has been staying since being freed from a decade of captivity, leaving her family confused and angry.
A spokeswoman for MetroHealth Hospital confirmed that Knight left the facility, but would not say where she went.
"Michelle Knight has been discharged from MetroHealth. She is asking for her privacy at this time," the hospital said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, the hospital issued a statement on Knight's behalf saying she was in "good spirits" and "extremely grateful for the outpouring of flowers and gifts."
"She asks that everyone please continue to respect her privacy at this time," the statement said. The hospital also said at the time that Knight had instructed the hospital that she did not want any visitors.
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That appears to have extended to her family, who Knight hasn't seen for 10 years.
Jay Milano is a lawyer hired by Knight's mother, Barbara Knight. "She went to the hospital and tried to deliver flowers to her daughter and was told that her daughter's not keeping visitors," the lawyer said.
He said they found out that Michelle Knight had left the hospital from a news reporter.
Milano says the mom was shut out of seeing her daughter and that the hospital "stonewalled" her while she tried to arrange a visit with her daughter.
"I talked to the lawyer for the hospital who told me, 'I don't know if she's here. I'll get back to you, Jay,'" Milano said. They then heard from the press that Michelle Knight had been discharged.
Milano said Michelle Knight has "lived through hell," and then, referring to her mother, added, "It was hell for her, too."
He said Mrs. Knight "came up here to be with her daughter, to help her daughter, to hug her daughter, to help her heal, and she's been stonewalled right down the line... It's abhorrent."
"To be working with the hospital... to see her daughter and the next thing she hears is that her daughter is gone, we don't know where she is, it was a terrible blow for her," Milano said.
A spokesperson for the hospital said only that it stands by its earlier statements.
Knight's grandmother, Deborah Knight, went to the home of Gina DeJesus today with balloons. DeJesus was freed along with Knight and Amanda Berry. Deborah Knight told reporters that she did not know where her granddaughter would go after being released from the hospital, but hoped she would go to DeJesus' house.
"Right now it's too overwhelming knowing she's released and possibly I might get to see my granddaughter again," Deborah Knight said. "We haven't spoken to her or seen her. This will be the first time since she disappeared."
Michelle Knight, however, did not appear at the DeJesus home.
Knight, 32, was freed Monday from more than a decade of captivity, but while Berry and DeJesus went home to warm welcomes from their families and their neighbors, Knight remained in MetroHealth Hospital until today.
Knight appears to have had her own special hell before, during and after her captivity.
She was the first of Castro's victims to be kidnapped, according to a police complaint when she was snatched on Aug. 23, 2002. She was 20 years old at the time and in the midst of a custody fight over a child she now hasn't seen now in more than a decade.
And while there were major publicity campaigns to find Berry and DeJesus, few outside of Knight's family knew she was missing until she was discovered inside Castro's house. A missing persons report was filed by the family, but apparently she was dismissed as a runaway by authorities and the case wasn't given much attention. After 15 months, she was removed from the FBI's database of missing people because police could not reach her mother to confirm she was still unaccounted for.
Her captor appears to have singled Knight out for particular abuse, according to a police report obtained by ABC News affiliate WEWS.
When Berry became pregnant, Castro told Knight to help Berry during labor, with her only help a kiddie swimming pool intended to keep the mess to a minimum.
"Michelle delivered the baby and Michelle stated that Ariel told her that if the baby died, he'd kill her," the police report states.
In what must have been terrifying on several levels for Knight, the newborn baby -- named Jocelyn -- stopped breathing.
"Michelle stated that Joceyln (victim 4) stopped breathing at one point, but she (Knight) breathed into her mouth and 'breathed for her,'" the report states.
Knight may have saved both their lives at that point.
