Ohio kidnap victims break silence to say 'thank you'

Doug Stanglin and Laura Petrecca | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Cleveland kidnap victims say 'thank you' in video Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight broke their public silence in the 3-minute, 30-second video posted on YouTube. The women were held captive in a Cleveland home for a decade.

Ariel Castro pleaded not guilty to kidnapping the three women

Michelle Knight%3A %22I will not let the situation define who I am%22

The victims spoke out for the first time since their release from captivity

The three young women held captive in a Cleveland home for almost a decade are thanking the public for its support in their first public statements since their rescue in May.

Smiling and appearing upbeat, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight speak separately in a three-minute, 30-second video released on YouTube.

"I may have been through hell and back, but I am strong enough to walk through hell with a smile on my face and my head held high," Knight says, reading from a statement. "I will not let the situation define who I am. I will define the situation. I don't want to be consumed by hatred."

The 32-year-old Knight, who was 21 when she disappeared, says she is building a "brand new life."

The video was filmed July 2 and released by the Hennes Paynter Communications public relations agency on the women's behalf with the cooperation of their lawyers.

"They wanted to say thank you and there were three options to do that," said Hennes Paynter managing partner Bruce Hennes. "One was to select a reporter and use that reporter as a megaphone to say thank you. They could have taken out an ad in The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, or we could have done a video for them."

The women collectively choose the video option.

Hennes said the phone at his office had been ringing all day with requests for the women to do TV interviews and to have books written about their plight, but they are declining all offers for now.

"They don't want to do interviews," he said. "They don't want to tell their stories."

DeJesus was 14 when she disappeared in 2004, Berry was 16 when she went missing in 2003 and Knight was 20 when she disappeared.

Ariel Castro, a 52-year-old former school bus driver, has been charged with kidnapping the girls off the streets of the city and holding them captive in his two-story home.

Castro, who has pleaded not guilty, was deemed mentally fit last week to stand trial. It is scheduled to begin Aug. 5.

The young women have not appeared in public since Berry broke through a door at the home, while Castro was briefly away, and shouted to neighbors for help. Police quickly freed the women, along with Berry's 6-year-old daughter, who was fathered by Castro.

"I want everyone to know how happy I am to be home with my family and friends," says Berry, who sports short hair with a blond streak. "It has been unbelievable.

"I am getting stronger each day, and having my privacy has helped immensely," she says.

The 27-year-old Berry, whose face as a missing 16-year-old was plastered on Cleveland streets after her disappearance, calls on the public to "give us time to have a normal life."

DeJesus, who is 23, briefly offers thanks to the public. Her mother, Nancy Ruiz, also appears on the video and urges anyone with a missing child to "please count on your neighbors. Don't be afraid to ask for their help, because help is available."

Kathy Joseph, Knight's attorney, said in a statement that the three women wanted to "say thank you to people from Cleveland and across the world, now that two months have passed."

Joseph said the women are being recognized in public and "decided to put voices and faces to their heartfelt messages."