MICHELLE KNIGHT IS ONE OF THE BRAVEST. ALMOST EXACTLY ONE YEAR AGO TONIGHT SHE AND TWO OTHER WOMEN TOOK ON A MONSTER AND WON. HERE'S SAVANNAH GUTHRIE.
>> ON THE BROADCAST TONIGHT, THE DARING ESCAPE FOR THREE YOUNG WOMEN MISSING FOR A DECADE.
>> AMANDA BERRY, GINA DeJESUS AND MICHELLE KNIGHT FOUND, HELD CAPTIVE IN A HOME WITHIN MILES FROM WHERE THEY WERE LAST SEEN. THE NEWS SHOCKED THE WORLD.
>> YOU CAN TRULY BELIEVE THAT MIRACLES REALLY DO HAPPEN.
>> THREE YOUNG WOMEN BREAKING FREE FROM A BOARDED UP HOUSE IN CLEVELAND AFTER A DECADE IN CAPTIVITY.
>> AMANDA BERRY, I'VE BEEN MISSING FOR TEN YEARS, I'M HERE, I'M FREE NOW.
>> INVESTIGATORS WHO SPENT YEARS SEARCHING FOR THE GIRLS WERE STUNNED.
>> I JUST -- MY MOUTH DROPPED OPEN.
>> THE MOST AMAZING CASE EVER.
>> AGAINST ALL ODDS, THE YOUNG WOMEN HAVE SURVIVED.
>> I'VE BEEN IN THIS BUSINESS FOR OVER 40 YEARS, I'VE SEEN A LOT OF HEROES IN MY LIFE. BUT THESE GIRLS TOP IT OFF.
>> TONIGHT, THE WOMAN WHO WAS HELD THE LONGEST, MICHELLE KNIGHT, TELLS HER INCREDIBLE STORY OF STRENGTH AND SURVIVAL. SHE WRITES ABOUT IT ALL IN HER NEW BOOK, "FINDING ME".
>> ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE THINGS ABOUT YOU IS YOU ARE A SURVIVOR WITH A CAPITAL S. WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS INSIDE YOU THAT GIVES YOU THAT STRENGTH?
>> SOMETIMES IN LIFE, YOU HAVE A DARK PATH THAT MAKES YOU WHO YOU ARE BUT IT DOESN'T DEFINE WHO YOU ARE. IT JUST MAKES YOU STRONGER.
>> MICHELLE LEARNED TO BE STRONG AT AN EARLY AGE. BY THE TIME SHE WAS 21, SHE SAYS SHE HAD ALREADY ENDURED POVERTY, ABUSE AND PERHAPS WORST OF ALL, HAVING HER 2-YEAR-OLD SON JOEY TAKEN AWAY BY SOCIAL SERVICES. HE WAS TAKEN, MICHELLE SAYS, AFTER A FAMILY ACQUAINTANCE HURT HIM. DESPERATE TO GET HIM BACK, MICHELLE LEFT HER HOUSE ONE MORNING TO MEET WITH JOEY'S CASEWORKER. IT WAS AUGUST 23rd, 2002.
>> ALL MY FRIENDS SAID, GOOD LUCK, I HOPE YOU'RE ABLE TO GET YOUR SON BACK. AND I SAID, ME TOO.
>> BUT MICHELLE GOT LOST ON THE WAY AND ENDED UP AT THIS DOLLAR STORE. WHEN SHE ASKED FOR DIRECTIONS, A MAN OFFERED TO GIVE HER A RIDE. IT WAS ARIEL CASTRO.
>> SO I GOT IN THE CAR AND WE STARTED TO DRIVE. HE WAS LIKE OH, BY THE WAY, I HAVE PUPPIES. IF YOU WANT ONE, YOU CAN TAKE ONE HOME TO YOUR SON. I WAS LIKE OKAY. AND THEN WE GO INTO THE HOUSE.
>> CASTRO TOLD HER THE PUPPIES WERE IN AN UPSTAIRS BEDROOM.
>> AND THEN THAT'S WHEN HE SHUT THE DOOR ON ME. AND I JUST STARTED CRYING.
>> MICHELLE WAS TRAPPED INSIDE 2207 SEYMOUR AVENUE, THE PLACE THAT WOULD BECOME HER JAIL FOR THE NEXT DECADE.
>> DOES THIS LOOK LIKE THE HOUSE YOU REMEMBER?
>> YEP. EXACTLY.
>> WE BUILT AN APPROXIMATE SCALE MODEL OF THE HOUSE SO MICHELLE COULD WALK US THROUGH HER STORY.
>> RIGHT HERE.
>> THAT'S WHERE HE --
>> THAT'S WHERE I WAS TRAPPED.
>> TRAPPED INSIDE A HOUSE THAT LOOKED MORE LIKE A FORTRESS. HOMEMADE ALARM SYSTEMS, BEDROOM DOORS THAT LOCKED FROM THE OUTSIDE, DRAPES COVERING THE STAIRWELLS, CHAINS IN EACH BEDROOM. MICHELLE SAYS CASTRO RAPED HER WHENEVER HE FELT LIKE IT AND WOULD LEAVE HER CHAINED AND ALONE FOR HOURS.
>> HOW DID YOU GET THROUGH EACH DAY? JUST SITTING THERE.
>> THINKING OF MY SON AND HOPING I COULD SEE HIS SMILE AGAIN.
>> MICHELLE WAS ALLOWED ONE SMALL COMFORT, A TELEVISION SET. AND THAT'S HOW ALMOST A YEAR INTO HER CAPTIVITY, SHE HEARD THE NEWS.
>> CLEVELAND POLICE DON'T KNOW WHERE AMANDA BERRY IS.
>> CASTRO SOON BROUGHT AMANDA BERRY TO MICHELLE'S ROOM.
>> WHAT DID SHE LOOK LIKE IN THAT MOMENT? HOW DID SHE SEEM TO YOU?
>> WELL, SHE LOOKED DISGUSTED BECAUSE THE WAY MY ROOM WAS. THE WAY HE KEPT ME.
>> DO YOU THINK SHE WAS REALIZING --
>> THAT'S WHAT SHE WAS GOING TO END UP GOING THROUGH.
>> MICHELLE HAD ALSO BEEN REPORTED MISSING WHEN SHE VANISHED, BUT YOU AMANDA, AT 16 YEARS OLD, WAS STILL A MINOR AND HER CASE MADE BIG HEADLINES.
>> THERE WERE FLYERS PUT UP AND THE NEWS MEDIA SHOWED PICTURES OF HER.
>> VICKY ANDERSON IS AN FBI SPECIAL AGENT.
>> EVERY MORNING THE GROUP OF US WERE OUT ON THE STREET IN HER NEIGHBORHOOD, IN THE AREA THAT SHE WORKED CANVASSING THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
>> BUT NOTHING DREW THEM TO CASTRO'S HOUSE. THEN A YEAR LATER, ANOTHER GIRL FROM THE AREA VANISHED, 14-YEAR-OLD GINA DeJESUS.
>> THAT'S WHY WE'RE WORKING --
>> THE DEPUTY CHIEF OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND SPECIAL OPERATIONS IN CLEVELAND.
>> ONE OF THE THINGS THAT POPPED UP IMMEDIATELY WAS, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THESE DATES, WHAT ARE THESE LOCATIONS HAVE IN COMMON? WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT? WHO ARE WE LOOKING AT?
>> THE MAN THEY WERE LOOKING FOR WAS ACTUALLY LIVING RIGHT AMONG THEM, EVEN INVITING FRIENDS INTO HIS HOME.
>> WHEN PEOPLE WOULD COME TO THE HOUSE, YOU GIRLS WOULD BE UP HERE?
>> YES. AND HE WOULD TAKE SPEAKERS, CHAIRS, COUCH SEATS, WHATEVER, PUT IT RIGHT THERE, AND HE'LL BLOCK FROM ANYONE GETTING UP THE STAIRS AT ALL.
>> NO ONE SAID, HEY THAT'S STRANGE, WHY DO YOU HAVE IT LIKE THAT?
>> YEAH. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY.
>> MICHELLE SAYS SHE AND GINA WERE KEPT IN A ROOM PAINTED PINK WHERE THEY BECAME LIKE SISTERS.
>> YOU AND GINA WERE IN THE ROOM TOGETHER SO LONG, YOU SAW EACH OTHER GO THROUGH TERRIBLE ABUSE.
>> YES. THERE WERE DAYS LIKE HE'LL COME IN AND HE'LL JUST DO BAD THINGS IN FRONT OF ME AND I'LL TAKE HER HAND AND I'LL TELL HER EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY. ONE DAY WE'LL GET OUT. ONE DAY WE'LL BE FREE. ONE DAY WE WON'T BE VOICELESS.
>> EVENTUALLY, THE INEVITABLE HAPPENED.
>> ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS TO HEAR THAT YOU WENT THROUGH IS GETTING PREGNANT.
>>> THAT WAS TREMENDOUSLY PAINFUL.
>> WERE YOU AFRAID TO TELL HIM?
>> VERY. VERY AFRAID. BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE WAS GOING TO DO, WHAT HE WAS GOING TO SAY.
>> CASTRO'S REACTION WAS BRUTAL. HE BEAT MICHELLE UNTIL SHE MISCARRIED. NOT ONCE, BUT EVERY TIME SHE BECAME PREGNANT.
>> THAT HAPPENED HOW MANY TIMES?
>> I WANT TO SAY FIVE OR FOUR.
>> MUST HAVE BROKEN YOUR HEART.
>> EVERY TIME.
>> WHEN AMANDA BECAME PREGNANT IN 2006, CASTRO ALLOWED HER TO KEEP THE BABY. MICHELLE OFTEN FELT CASTRO HATED HER THE MOST.
>> HE WANTED TO BREAK ME AND THAT'S SOMETHING HE COULDN'T DO. BECAUSE YOU CAN'T BREAK SOMEONE THAT'S ALREADY BEEN BROKEN. YOU CAN ONLY MAKE THEM STRONGER.
>> SOMEHOW MICHELLE MANAGED TO FIND SOME BRIGHT SPOTS EVEN IN THAT DARK PLACE, AND THIS WAS ONE OF THEM. HE ALLOWED MICHELLE TO KEEP A DIARY AND SHE POURED HER HEART ON TO THOSE PRECIOUS PAGES.
>> WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU WOULD WRITE AND DRAW?
>> I'LL WRITE POEMS, SONGS. I WOULD DRAW DOGGIES, I WOULD DRY CARE BEARS.
>> THIS WAS ONE OF HER FIRST ENTRIES.
>> VIBRANT BUTTERFLY FULL OF LIFE, EVERY TIME I SEE ONE IT REMINDS ME HOW PRECIOUS LIFE CAN TRULY BE. TO BE ABLE TO TURN FROM A CATERPILLAR INTO A BUTTERFLY. AND TO BE ABLE TO FLY SO GRACEFULLY ACROSS THE SKY.
>> IT'S AMAZING THAT YOU FOUND HOPE, YOU COULD WRITE THAT EVEN IN THAT DARKEST MOMENT.
>> IT WAS DIFFICULT. BUT I MANAGED IT. AND IT MADE ME FEEL A LOT BETTER INSIDE WHEN I WROTE IT.
>> LIKE A BUTTERFLY, MICHELLE DREAMED OF FLYING AWAY. AND ONE DAY, SHE ALMOST GOT HER CHANCE. MICHELLE SAYS CASTRO EVENTUALLY RELAXED HIS IRON GRIP JUST A BIT AND DIDN'T ALWAYS KEEP HER CHAINED UP. IT WAS DURING ONE OF THOSE TIMES THAT MICHELLE TRIED TO MAKE A BREAK FOR IT.
>> I DON'T THINK ABOUT IT. I'M JUST GOING TO DO IT. I JUST RAN. I THINK HE HEARD ME AND THAT'S WHEN HE RAN DOWN THE STAIRS. OBVIOUSLY, I WASN'T QUICK ENOUGH AND I WAS TOO SMALL SO I WASN'T ABLE TO JUMP THE FENCE.
>> BUT YOU RAN OUT THE BACK DOOR?
>> YEAH.
>> MICHELLE SAYS CASTRO GRABBED
