Cleveland Abduction Survivor Explains Meaning Behind Her New Name

One of the survivors of the devastating Cleveland abductions, known as Michelle Knight, has changed her name since escaping the home of her captor Ariel Castro, where she was held for 11 years.

As depicted in the film adaption of her story, Cleveland Abduction, she had been locked away in Castro's home and subject to harrowing abuse alongside Amanda Berry and Georgina 'Gina' DeJesus.

In an effort to move on from the horrendous trauma she suffered, Michelle decided to rename herself as Lily Rose Lee, pulling inspiration from different parts of her own life.

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Speaking to Megyn Kelly on Today back in 2018, she broke down the meaning of her new name Lily Rose Lee.

"I decided when I was in the house that I was going to change my name. I kept on figuring out different names, and then I had seen this piece in the newspaper that he had, saying lilies were a pure heart. So I was like 'Yes, that's my new name.'"

For her middle name, she was inspired by her childhood best friend Rose, who "stood by my side, helped me when I was younger during a difficult time."

And finally, she took her last name 'Lee', after the middle name of her son Joey, who was just two years old when she was abducted.

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Michelle, or Lily Rose, had been on her way to a custody hearing for her Joey on the day she was abducted by Ariel Castro.

When she was finally freed in 2013, her main priority was to be reunited with her son, who had since been adopted by a foster family in her absence.

To this day, Joey has not yet been reunited with his birth mother and, according to Lily Rose, he has not been told who she is or what happened to her.

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A dramatisation of the horrific abduction case has recently been added to Netflix, with Taryn Manning (Orange Is The New Black) portraying Michelle.

Netflix users are already describing the film, which originally debuted in 2015, as one of the most 'disturbing' things they have ever watched.

Cleveland Abduction is available on Netflix for US users.

Topics: TV And Film, Netflix

Ali Condon

Ali is a journalist for LADbible Group, writing on all things film, music, and entertainment across Tyla, LADbible and UNILAD. You can contact Ali at [email protected].

@alicondon