In a tragic twist to Amanda Berry’s escape from Ariel Castro’s cruel imprisonment, The National ENQUIRER has learned the kidnapping victim has lost her father – less than two years after being freed from a decade in captivity.
Johnny Berry was buried in Elizabethton, Tenn., on Jan. 6, after dying three days earlier. Now the 28-year-old survivor is feeling even more unspeakable pain.
“They’d hold hands. They were close. As much as they could, they were together,” Amanda’s grandmother, Fern Gentry, told The ENQUIRER of her son’s last days under medical care.
“She got to see her dad a lot. She knew he was suffering, and we all saw it and didn’t want to see it anymore. She’s the one who did it all, too. She didn’t want anyone helping her. She wanted to do everything for her dad she could do.”
Amanda was just 16 years old when Castro abducted her on April 21, 2003. She was raped and tortured alongside fellow captives Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus. The three women finally escaped from Castro’s Ohio dungeon after Amanda struggled to call out to passing strangers from inside the house on May 6, 2013 – 10 years after her disappearance.
But her mother, Louwana Miller – who passed away in 2006 – never gave up hope that Amanda was still alive.
And despite battling pulmonary disease and being near-paralyzed from back surgery, Amanda’s father fought to protect her until the end. “If I could get my hands on that monster, I’d kill him myself!”
Johnny, 55, previously told The ENQUIRER. “If I can’t kill him, I don’t want the state to execute him. That would be too easy for him.”
Instead, Johnny lived to see the cowardly Castro commit suicide while serving a life sentence, plus 1,000 years. Despite the setback, Amanda is doing well, said Fern.
Amanda spends her days writing her memoir, while enjoying the precious time with her daughter, Jocelyn, that Amanda couldn’t experience with her own parents, according to Fern.
