Police visited house where Ohio women found

"BELIEVE IN MIRACLES"

After their rescue, the three women were taken to a local hospital, reunited with family and friends, and released.

"If you don't believe in miracles, I suggest you think again," DeJesus' aunt Sandra Ruiz said to reporters on Tuesday in Cleveland. Her comments were televised by local station WJW.

"This is a miracle," Ruiz said. But she added: "Watch who your neighbor is because you never know."

The case is not the first time Cleveland has witnessed a horrific story close to home that raised questions about the thoroughness of police investigations.

In 2009, police discovered a home in Cleveland where Anthony Sowell had imprisoned and killed 11 women. Family members of some victims filed a lawsuit against the city, complaining about the police's handling of the case.

Sowell was convicted in 2011 and is on death row.

FBI and other law enforcement officials were searching the Castro house as well as other properties, said police, who did not elaborate.

Neighbor Joe Popow said he found it chilling to have known Castro.

"After all this has happened, I think, Oh my God, what did I miss? This person came to my house," he said.

During her 911 call, Berry can be heard naming Ariel Castro as the man she was fleeing from, and she indicated she knew her disappearance had been widely reported in the media.

"Help me! I'm Amanda Berry. ... I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for 10 years and I'm here. I'm free now," Berry can be heard saying in a recording of the call released by police.

The discovery of the three women was reminiscent of the case of Jaycee Dugard, who was snatched from her northern California home at age 11 by a convicted sex offender, Phillip Garrido, and kept in captivity for 18 years before being rescued in 2009.

During that time she was repeatedly raped by her abductor and gave birth to two girls fathered by him.

Dugard released a statement on Tuesday, saying: "As simple as it sounds, these women need the opportunity to have the privacy to heal and reconnect."

"I know individuals are strong in spirit and can be resilient in crisis. I wish them the best in their journey," she said.