Kidnap rescue end of long case for US police commander

Back in 2003 and 2004, Sulzer had spent countless hours combing through the city's alleys, fields and abandoned buildings looking for the trio. He'd marched with their parents, attended every vigil.

"When I walked in there it was a surreal moment," Sulzer said. "I could recognize them right off the bat -- I've known those faces for so long, even though they were a little thinner, a little older."

Amanda Berry, who was snatched the day before her 17th birthday and is now 27, still had the eyebrow piercing he'd stared at so often on her missing poster.

Gina DeJesus, kidnapped at 13 and now 23, had shorter hair, but her face was little changed. Michelle Knight, who disappeared in 2002 and is now 32, was less recognizable but equally welcomed.

But Sulzer couldn't savor the moment. He had to cordon off the crime scene, deal with the perpetrator. And, like many cops who've seen too much of the dark side of life, he was just waiting "for the shoe to drop."

It didn't take long for the police to come under fire -- first for the 911 dispatcher's apparent lack of compassion when Berry made her emergency call, and next for failing to find the three Ohio women sooner.

Neighbors told reporters that they'd called police about a naked woman in chains in the back yard but received no response.

A previous suspect said he had pointed the finger at Ariel Castro -- who has been charged with rape and kidnapping -- years ago.

Police were anxious to relieve their own doubts and "scrubbed" their files for any signs they may have missed, deputy chief Ed Tomba said. They have no record of these alleged reports.

"I'm just very, very confident in the ability of those investigators and those law enforcement officers that they checked every single lead," Tomba told reporters Wednesday.

DeJesus's family had nothing but praise for police, and her mother Nancy Ruiz gave Sulzer a huge hug when she came out to speak to reporters and well-wishers after her daughter returned home.

He was the only person she thanked by name, her voice breaking with emotion when she said, "Commander Sulzer, I always went to him."

Felix DeJesus also thanked the police and FBI for their support during his daughter's long absence.

"These people were by my side every day, every night, every hour," he said. "They had to put up with me every day. I don't know how they did it."

Around 2,900 missing person reports are filed every year in Cleveland, Sulzer told a handful of reporters after a community meeting Thursday night.

All but 70 or so usually get resolved and, of those, many are adults who just left town without telling relatives or friends.

The police department has changed how it handles missing person reports after it was accused of missing chances to catch Anthony Sowell -- the so-called "Cleveland Strangler" -- who targeted poor black women with drug and alcohol problems and in 2009 was convicted of 11 murders.

Now, Sulzer said, every report is logged -- even if it's a homeless person coming in to say someone hasn't been seen in a while.

And instead of waiting for tips, investigators visit the homes of people who've made a missing person report every month to follow up on the case.

When it's a missing child, cops really take the case to heart, Sulzer said.

"I had one recurring nightmare in my life: that they would find these girls where I searched," Sulzer told anxious residents gathered in a church hall down the street from the unassuming house where the captives were held.

Sulzer said people should understand police "can't just go kicking in doors" -- they need probable cause to search private property and nobody suspected Castro, not his neighbors, not his family, not friends who visited his home.

"He was good at what he did," Sulzer said.

Despite the previous false reports that Berry or DeJesus had been found, the police didn't hesitate to rush to Seymour Avenue when the call came in.

"That call was dispatched within 13 seconds, our guys got here within a minute and a half, we reckon we got the guy within five minutes. That's pretty good police work," Sulzer said.