Quotes of the Week: 'The Real Hero Here Is Amanda.'
Amanda Berry screamed and crawled her way to freedom on Monday.
May 11, 2013— -- intro: After Amanda Berry's brave bolt to freedom on Monday, the world learned of the alleged horrors endured by Berry and two other women who spent a decade as captives in a Cleveland home. The overjoyed mother of Gina DeJesus told ABC News she had known her daughter's alleged abductor for years and had some surprising words for him. Click through to see the quotes that made news this week.
quicklist: 1title: 'The Real Hero Here Is Amanda. She's the One That Got This Rolling.'text: On Tuesday, police lauded Amanda Berry as a "real hero" for breaking free free after 10 years of captivity and rescuing herself and two other women held as prisoners in a Cleveland house.
Berry's bolt to freedom Monday night revealed a shocking case of three women abducted as long as 11 years ago and held in a modest house where neighbors and relatives never suspected anything was wrong.
"The real hero here is Amanda. She's the one that got this rolling. We're following her lead," Cleveland Police Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said at a press conference on Tuesday. "Without her we wouldn't be here today."
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quicklist: 2title: 'I Would Hug Him and I Would Say, 'God Bless You.''text: The mother of Gina DeJesus, whom Ariel Castro allegedly abducted and kept as a sex slave in his Cleveland home for a decade, had a surprising answer when asked what she would say to Castro.
"I would hug him and I would say, 'God bless you.' I would say, 'God bless you,' and I'd hug him. I did not hate him. I forgave him years ago. I said it: I forgive whoever done it, just let her go," Nancy Ruiz told "20/20" anchor David Muir in an exclusive interview Thursday.
"Because you know what?" Ruiz added. "When you start to hate a person, that eats you up. I don't have time for that. I have to be, you know, I want to be happy, like I am now."
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quicklist: 3title: 'We, as a Family, Have a Renewed Faith and a Renewed Hope.'text: For Karen Bobo, whose daughter disappeared in 2011, the emergence of three women in Cleveland who had been missing for a decade has energized her two-year search for Holly Bobo.
"We, as a family, have a renewed faith and a renewed hope that with community efforts, we do expect to find Holly and I do ask everyone to please take a close look at your neighbors," Karen Bobo said Wednesday.
Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo, 20, disappeared April 13, 2011, when a man in camouflage dragged her into the woods near her home in rural Decatur County, about three hours from Nashville. Her brother Clint, 25, saw her go into the woods, but mistakenly believed the man was her boyfriend. There are no suspects in her disappearance.
The events in Cleveland have stirred conflicting emotions among the families of missing persons, ranging from hope to fear, and encouraged advocates that the media attention will inspire families to become the driving force behind the police investigations.
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quicklist: 4title: 'I Said Years Ago I'd Rather Get Death Than Life.'text: Shortly after Jodi Arias was found guilty Wednesday of the first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend, she told a local TV station that she would "rather get death than life" in prison.
"I said years ago I'd rather get death than life and that still is true today," Arias told KSAZ-TV. "I believe death is the ultimate freedom, so I'd rather just have my freedom as soon as I can get it."
A sentencing hearing for Arias has been postponed, but she could face the death penalty.
Cheers erupted from the crowds waiting outside the courtroom in Phoenix as Arias was convicted of murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in a vicious attack in 2008.
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quicklist: 5title: 'We Cannot Allow the Greed of a Few Looters and Schemers to Trump the Cultural Interests of an Entire Nation.'text: A 70-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton that was illegally smuggled into the United States was returned last week to the Mongolian government, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs officials.
"We cannot allow the greed of a few looters and schemers to trump the cultural interests of an entire nation," ICE director John Morton said in a statement. "We undo a great wrong by returning this priceless dinosaur skeleton to the people of Mongolia."
The nearly complete skeleton is believed to have been smuggled out of the country between 2005 and 2012 by Eric Prokopi, 38, a self-described "commercial paleontologist."
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quicklist: 6title: 'I Did This for Myself, My Wife, and My Children.'text: Chris Christie got Lap-Band surgery to help slim down, but the New Jersey governor says it's not about a run for the White House, despite all the speculation.
"I did this for myself, my wife, and my children," Christie said on Tuesday. "And unlike some of you, they will still pay attention to me whether I run for president or not. The fact is, it has nothing to do with running for governor this year, with running for president at any time in my life, if I ever decided to do that, and I said this yesterday, it may sound odd to people, but this is a hell of a lot more important to me than running for president. This is about my family's future. And that is a heck of a lot more important to me than the idea of running for President of the United States."
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quicklist: 7title: 'Mr. Reed Had No Involvement Whatsoever in the Explosion at the West, Texas Fertilizer Plant.'text: A first responder who helped treat victims of the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, last month will plead not guilty to the federal charge of possessing an explosive device, his attorney said on Saturday.
Paramedic Bryce Reed, who works with the West EMS and served as incident commander during the response to the explosion, appeared in federal court in Waco, Texas, Friday morning for alleged possession of a destructive device.
"Mr. Reed had no involvement whatsoever in the explosion at the West, Texas fertilizer plant," Reed's attorney, Jonathan Sibley said in a statement. "Mr. Reed was one of the first responders and lost friends, family, and neighbors in that disaster. Mr. Reed is heartbroken for the friends he lost and remains resolute in his desire to assist in the rebuilding of his community."
Reed is due back in court on Wednesday. He faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines if convicted of the charges against him.
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