Ohio kidnap victims Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus have both been released from hospital and have reunited with their families, but the third victim, Michele Knight, has reportedly been shunning her family and remains in hospital.
Knight, 32, has been held captive by Ariel Castro for the longest time among the three victims - a total of 11 years. She is reportedly in good condition at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland but has not yet met any of her family members.
Deborah Knight, the victim's grandmother, told news agencies that she has not yet seen her granddaughter. "No, we haven't – on her request. She does not want to be seen by family," she said, according to Reuters.
However, one of Michele's brothers, Freddie Knight, visited her at the hospital. "Her skin was white as a ghost," he said. "She told me she was excited to start a new life."
But Michele is being left alone by her family until she is ready to see them.
Knight had required additional medical care as she was found with facial injuries and had suffered at least five miscarriages while in captivity. She was reportedly starved and punched in her stomach whenever she fell pregnant by Castro.
Castro, 52, was charged with four counts of kidnapping on May 8. He has also been charged with raping the three women he kidnapped and held captive for around 10 years.
Knight was a single mother at the age of 20 when she was abducted by Castro. Because she was over the legal age of an adult, many dismissed her case as a runaway case. She had vanished after losing a custody battle with child welfare authorities over her son, who was three at the time. Some of her family members thought she had run off after losing custody of her child.
Meanwhile, in other developing news, test results proved that Berry's six-year-old daughter Jocelyn, who was conceived while she was in captivity, belongs to Ariel Castro.
