# Adult women held captive for 10 years? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 7, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698 "2013-05-07T14:03:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/41 "2013-05-07T19:58:48Z")
Nobody has mentioned the six year old girl believed to be the daughter of Amanda Berry. Her whole life has been with these monsters. She is going to be so fucked up. I do wonder if she was part of the impetus that helped Amanda try to escape. Maybe she realized that at some point her daughter would be tortured the way she was. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@Tequila\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Party)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/42 "2013-05-07T19:59:59Z")
Oh Jesus. That’s the woman they kept in a _box under the bed_ for years. Makes me queasy any time I think about that. Poor woman. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/43 "2013-05-07T20:24:48Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Nobody has mentioned the six year old girl believed to be the daughter of Amanda Berry. Her whole life has been with these monsters. She is going to be so fucked up. > > I do wonder if she was part of the impetus that helped Amanda try to escape. Maybe she realized that at some point her daughter would be tortured the way she was. No, I think six is young enough that the little child will NOT end up being so fucked up. I can’t say the same with confidence about the three adults, but the little girl will eventually be okay, assuming they all get really good therapy starting now. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/44 "2013-05-07T20:34:27Z")
> [@Tequila\_Party](#): > > There’s no telling what kind of physical, mental and sexual abuse they probably suffered early on to cement the fact they couldn’t get away. Given that none of these women had children at the time of abduction and along with them they brought out a six year old girl described as the daughter of one of the women I’ve got a pretty good guess at some of it. ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/45 "2013-05-07T21:04:40Z")
There are lots of things to consider that have been brought up here. I feel calmer now. Many thanks. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/46 "2013-05-07T21:09:50Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Given that none of these women had children at the time of abduction and along with them they brought out a six year old girl described as the daughter of one of the women I’ve got a pretty good guess at some of it. I read that the oldest woman, [Michelle Knight](http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/07/us/ohio-rescued-women-bios/index.html?hpt=hp_t1), the first kidnapped, had a child she’d lost custody of. > [@](#): > > Knight’s grandmother, Deborah Knight, told The Plain Dealer on Monday that the family concluded that Michelle had left of her own accord because she was angry that she had lost custody of her son. That conclusion was supported by police and social workers, she told the newspaper. She has a kid who has grown up not knowing his mother. StG ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/47 "2013-05-07T21:17:10Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I’m willing to bet that these monsters told the girls that they knew where they lived and if they escaped their families would be killed. Or some such bullshit. > > I’m also willing to bet that when these monsters are interviewed, they will talk about how nicely their “girlfriends” were taken care of and how they did not want to leave. > > Read the tale of [Colleen Stan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Colleen_Stan) who was kept a sex slave for seven years. That’s a truly bizzare and horrible story. Perhaps the strangest part is the hold the abuser had over her mind. He let her out to visit her family … and when she came back, kept her under the bed in a box for three solid years. :eek: I can only conclude that certain types of abuse and isolation create a very powerful mental conditioning in some people. Perhaps something similar was at work in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/48 "2013-05-07T22:00:41Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > It will be interesting to hear the details of their captivity. That’s creepy, really. Why should such details be released to a nosy public? What business is it of anyone but the victims? I think we all can pretty well figure out what was going on. If the women choose to tell the public, well and good. But until then I think it would be sick to want to know “details” ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/49 "2013-05-07T22:23:19Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Reminds me of a creepy sight I saw when house-hunting - one place we saw at an open house had a bedroom set up in the (otherwise unfinished) basement, two piece ensuite bathroom, with a pretty solid door and a hasp for a lock on the _outside_. > > My wife and I just looked at each other like this: :eek: … but surely in that case, there was a wholly innocent explaination. > > [No, we didn’t put an offer in] Older sibling keeping younger siblings out of room when he is away…one non-creepy explanation I have seen first hand. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/50 "2013-05-07T22:28:37Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > Older sibling keeping younger siblings out of room when he is away…one non-creepy explanation I have seen first hand. Heh, I never thought of that one. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/51 "2013-05-07T22:55:32Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I could easily seal up the basement of my house so that no one could readily escape. People can be chained drugged, threathened. We don’t know what else went on in that house. We’ll find out eventually. > [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I find it pretty hard to get into your lack of understanding. It’s pretty easy to get a mother to not do things, much more so than a dog. Hey, bitch, touch that wall/door/window and I’ll rape your daughter to death. > … That was easy. > [@Gary\_T](#): > > I think about how easy it would to make part of a house quite effective as a prison. A room paneled with 3/4" plywood isn’t going to breachable. A stone-walled basement doesn’t lend itself to breaking through, either. > > Precious few humans seem able to do that, however. Especially quickly enough to break through before the damage is seen by the captors. > > If escape had been as physically easy as you seem to suppose, we wouldn’t be having this thread as the captives would have long ago fled. Great. Those are all valid points on the discussion of how could this happen. That’s the conversation I, and I’m guessing the OP, were after. Yes, I agree there are a myriad of ways when you factor in drugs, starvation, and psychological torture. Ten years is a frustratingly long time. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/52 "2013-05-07T23:01:58Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > That’s creepy, really. Why should such details be released to a nosy public? What business is it of anyone but the victims? I think we all can pretty well figure out what was going on. > > If the women choose to tell the public, well and good. But until then I think it would be sick to want to know “details” To a degree yes, but unfortunately some level of it will probably come out just because the police and prosecution have to get evidence to convict these guys which will ultimately end up in open court. Now, if the three women refuse to testify or talk about what happened, some of the specifics will not be known. Assuming the men don’t just break down and confess to everything (with three guys to play off on one another that’s not an impossible likelihood.) ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/53 "2013-05-07T23:04:35Z")
I recommend the book by Jaycee Dugard. She explains how her captor gradually gained complete control over her, to the point where she’d go out in public and not try to escape. It began with tying her up and leaving her chained for hours, sometimes days. Her boredom was interrupted only by fear when he came around to rape her. He controlled her every move, and it was only via him that she got a drink of water, or a book to read, or a bucket to pee in, or food to eat. He was her gateway to everything. If he allowed her a tiny bit of freedom, she felt complete gratitude. That complete domination of her, plus his constant manipulation of her – telling her that her parents were grateful she was gone, threatening them harm if she escaped, made her so psychologically dependent on him that she didn’t even attempt to escape. Another case is Elizabeth Smart, who was brainwashed in a very short period of time, to the point where she wouldn’t reveal her real name when questioned by police. Neither of these girls escaped; they were found. I think it’s just incredible that one of the Cleveland girls still had the will and wits to escape after a decade of slavery. What an incredible story of determination. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/54 "2013-05-07T23:06:20Z")
Also, most long term captivities there is a lot of psychological control of the victims going on. But even if there is none of that at all, if you have a basement and some chain you can pretty effectively prevent anyone from leaving indefinitely. That’s basically how an old school dungeon worked and people typically did not escape from those. A lot of houses I’ve lived in, you had a basement that’s ceiling was maybe 1-1.5’ above ground level, so you might have small windows to let light in. You just block those up completely and build some cinderblock-wall holding cells and it’s very unlikely anyone will hear people screaming from down there and highly unlikely anyone escapes. Keep a chain on their ankle/wrist anchored into masonry or something or a pipe sunk into concrete and they aren’t going anywhere. It also appears these guys had blocked off all the above-ground windows with plastic and obviously the door couldn’t be easily opened from the inside. Most likely since there were three of them I’d imagine there were varying levels of physical control. Early on they were probably kept locked in some way, later on the fact that with three guys at least one of them was always present most of the time probably seriously limited the ability to escape. Not to mention any attempted escape/disobedience would result in probably extreme beatings and punishment and I doubt the women had the nerve to try too many. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/55 "2013-05-07T23:13:03Z")
This story is so chilling to me. I don’t even want to think about what their lives have been like. People are the worst animals. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/56 "2013-05-07T23:17:48Z")
Stockholm Syndrome is a big problem. Jaycee Dugard was running her captor’s copy/print shop. She even dealt with customers for special print jobs. They said in interviews that she never indicated anything was wrong. After over 10 years its like she had accepted her captivity. It still was captivity but she wasn’t tied up like she had been in the early years. > **[Stockholm syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome)** > > Stockholm syndrome is a proposed condition in which hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors. It is supposed to result from a rather specific set of circumstances, namely the power imbalances contained in hostage-taking, kidnapping, and abusive relationships. Therefore, it is difficult to find a large number of people who experience Stockholm syndrome to conduct studies with any sort of validity or useful sample size. This makes it hard to determine trends in the development Emo... ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/57 "2013-05-07T23:53:18Z")
As always in these nightmare cases a ton of stuff is being speculated on based on half-assed sources. Sadly the worst of what actually happened is probably as bad as the worst of the rumors. It now looks like several independent individuals reported seeing naked women in the back yard of the house. Apparently an apartment building could see down into the yard from some distance away and some of the residents there saw at times three naked women crawling around on all fours with leashes on. This jives with a report that a neighborhood child living in one of the houses near the Ariel Castro house told their parents that they had seen a naked woman crawling in the back yard of the house. Both the parents of that child and the apartment residents are claiming they called police but nothing was done…and earlier today the Cleveland Police spoke and said the only reports in their system on the house were two calls unrelated to anything to do with the missing woman. (One was in 2000 or something and Ariel Castro had called to report a fight in the street in front of his house, the other was a police investigation into whether Castro had improperly left a child without supervision or something while he was a bus driver.) In what I hope isn’t true, leaks from the police department are claiming the incidents inside the home resulted in five pregnancy and that the men would beat the women while pregnant, thus the reason there is only one living child. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/58 "2013-05-08T00:16:36Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Reminds me of a creepy sight I saw when house-hunting - one place we saw at an open house had a bedroom set up in the (otherwise unfinished) basement, two piece ensuite bathroom, with a pretty solid door and a hasp for a lock on the _outside_. > > My wife and I just looked at each other like this: :eek: … but surely in that case, there was a wholly innocent explaination. > > [No, we didn’t put an offer in] If you have a parent with dementia, you work full time, and you don’t have enough money for a nursing home or a home health aide, one thing some people have done is set their parent up in a basement room with all the comforts of home but none of the dangers. Then, you lock the door from the outside so they can’t wander out and get lost, and you pray to God that nothing bad happens while you’re away. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/59 "2013-05-08T08:49:56Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > Older sibling keeping younger siblings out of room when he is away…one non-creepy explanation I have seen first hand. Still too creepy. For that, you’d want a deadbolt or similar lock, that can be opened from the inside without a key, but requires a key from the outside. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/60 "2013-05-08T11:37:55Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Still too creepy. For that, you’d want a deadbolt or similar lock, that can be opened from the inside without a key, but requires a key from the outside. Not needed if you only want to lock it when you’re not there , and a deadbolt is probably either more expensive or more difficult to install. I usually see these locks when bedrooms are being individually rented out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698.md?page=4)