The Cleveland Captives: What Really Happened? (2013)

The Cleveland Captives: What Really Happened? (2013)

Usually, the first documentaries released immediately following a high-profile criminal case are really light on factual evidence and rely mostly on opinion and vivid speculation to push a certain narrative… but not in this case…

Rick Edwards of the BBC3’s “What Really Happened?” documentary series, does a remarkable job getting inside the Cleveland kidnapping case to reveal vital information about the captives, the kidnapper, the families, the neighbourhood and the the neighbours involved that helps to shed some light on this most troubling and truly bizarre modern crime story.

“Two teenage girls and a 20-year-old woman are kidnapped on the same stretch of road in Cleveland, Ohio. For 10 years they are missing presumed dead, but in May 2013, miraculously, they are discovered alive, one of them with a six-year old daughter. Their captor, Ariel Castro, is now charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. He may even face the death penalty if prosecutors successfully argue that he forcibly caused his captors to miscarry their unborn babies.….” BBCThree