On another occasion four elderly women spotted three naked women with dog chains and leashes around their necks in the backyard of Castro’s home, Lugo told The New York Daily News.
Neighbors next door to a run-down home where three women were held captive for about a decade said they called police on two separate occasions and both times police showed up but never went inside.
One neighbor said a naked woman was seen crawling on her hands and knees in the backyard of the house a few years ago. Another heard pounding on the home’s doors and noticed plastic bags over the windows.
Police also paid a visit to the house in 2004, but no one answered the door.
Now, after three women who vanished a decade ago were found captive Monday at the run-down house, Cleveland police are facing questions for the second time in four years about their handling of missing-person cases and are conducting an internal review to see if they should have investigated the case more in-depth.
City Safety Director Martin Flask said Tuesday that investigators had no record of anyone calling about criminal activity at the house but were still checking police, fire and emergency databases.
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