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Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man sentenced to life plus 1,000 years in prison for kidnapping and raping three women, was found hanging in his prison cell Tuesday night. He hanged himself with a bed sheet, according to Jan Gorniak of the Franklin County coroner's office.
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Around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday, authorities found Castro hanging in his cell at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio. Medical staff performed CPR before Castro was transported to an area hospital.
He was pronounced dead at 10:52 p.m.
His family was notified by the warden at about 1 a.m., according to his brother-in-law, Juan Alicea.
Another family member, Maria Castro-Montes, said she cried when she first heard the news, even though she said nearly everyone in the family had cut ties with Castro.
Castro-Montes also said she wondered how Castro's three victims -- Michelle Knight, Georgina DeJesus and Amanda Berry -- would react to his death.
The three women have been notified of his death, but did not make a statement on it.
"It was just shock and part of it was even relief in hopes that now this will just end all of it and that his name will not be out in the spotlight for years and years to come," Castro-Montes said. "I just hope the victims can move past this now."
