US police have concluded that Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro died by suicide after hanging himself weeks into a life sentence with no chance for parole.

One of three women kidnapped and held in a Ohio man’s home for 10 years has said an orange extension cord was used to tie her neck, hands and feet and hang her “like a fish”.

Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro may have died from auto-erotic asphyxiation — not suicide — and two prison guards falsified logs documenting observation of him in the hours before he died, the state said.

Prison guards falsified logs documenting their observation of Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro in the hours before he died, a report says – and he may have died from auto-erotic asphyxiation.

Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro said he called the mother of one of his captives and told the woman her daughter was alive and had become his wife, according to interrogation videotapes.

US kidnapper Ariel Castro called the mother of one of his victims while she was in captivity and told her she was okay, according to reports.

Ohio’s prison system is reviewing how Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro - perhaps the most notorious figure behind bars in the state – managed to hang himself with a bedsheet while in protective custody.

Ariel Castro, who held three women captive in his Ohio home for nearly a decade, has committed suicide at a state prison facility.

The US house where three women were held captive and raped over a decade has been demolished.

Ariel Castro was sentenced to life without parole on the charge of aggravated murder and received multiple years on various other charges related to kidnap and rape that totalled 1,000 years.

The American man convicted of holding three women captive in his house over a decade and raping them repeatedly has been jailed for life without parole plus 1,000 years.

A former school bus driver being sentenced for kidnapping three women and subjecting them to years of sexual and physical abuse left behind a letter that said “I’m a sexual predator,” an FBI agent testified.

Three women held prisoner in a run-down home for a decade kept diaries documenting the horrific physical and sexual abuse they suffered on a daily basis, it has emerged, as their captor faces sentence today.

The Cleveland man accused of holding three women captive in his home for about a decade pleaded guilty yesterday in a deal to avoid the death penalty.

The man accused of holding three women captive in his US home for about a decade has pleaded guilty in a deal to avoid the death penalty.

A man accused of kidnapping three women, keeping them captive in his home in Cleveland, Ohio, for about a decade and raping them repeatedly is facing a final pre-trial hearing, a day after his lawyers and prosecutors said they have entered into plea negotiations.

A man accused of holding three women captive in his home for more than a decade has pleaded not guilty to 512 counts of kidnapping and 446 counts of rape.

The man accused of kidnapping and raping three women over a decade in his home is due back in court and will face further charges.

Three women held against their will for a decade locked in Cleveland, Ohio, have posted a video on YouTube to offer thanks for the support they have received as they try to rebuild their lives.

Three women held captive in a US home for a decade are thanking the public for their support in a YouTube video.

A Cleveland man accused of holding three young women captive for a decade pleaded not guilty to hundreds of charges, including rape, kidnapping and murder for beating one pregnant captive until she miscarried.

Lawyers for the man accused of holding three women captive for a decade in Ohio is hinting that a trial can be avoided.

The US man accused of kidnapping three women, holding them in his home for a decade and raping them has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

A man accused of holding three women captive for a decade is facing 329 charges including kidnapping and rape.

The US man accused of abducting and raping three women at his home for 10 years is to plead not guilty to all charges against him, his lawyers say.

The US man accused of abducting and raping three women at his home for 10 years is to plead not guilty to all charges against him, his lawyers say.

The two brothers of the man accused of holding three women captive in the US for 10 years say they have no sympathy for him.

A DNA test confirmed another dark twist in the story of three women imprisoned in an Ohio house for about 10 years.

One of the three women who was held captive for 11 years suffered a gang-rape a year previous, and the baby was later taken from her, writes Kim Palmer, in Cleveland

Alleged kidnapper Ariel Castro is the father of a six-year-old girl rescued from his house with three women this week, an official says.

An Ohio prosecutor says he may seek the death penalty against the man accused of imprisoning three women at his home for about a decade for forcing them to suffer miscarriages.

A prosecutor has said that he may seek the death penalty against the man accused of kidnapping and raping three women in Ohio.

A US man has appeared in court on charges of rape and kidnapping days after three women missing for about a decade were found alive at his home.

A man has been charged with rape and kidnapping after three women missing for a decade were found alive at his Ohio home.

One of the men accused of holding three women captive in a suburban Cleveland home has been charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape.

Former school bus driver Ariel Castro has been charged with four counts of kidnap and three of rape over the missing women inquiry in Ohio.

The three women held captive for about a decade at a run-down US house were apparently bound with ropes and chains, police said today, while charges were expected by the end of the day against the three brothers under arrest.

One of the suspects in the case of three women who were rescued this week, 10 years after they went missing, had been active in neighbourhood searches and vigils for the women, neighbours say.

The mother of one of the three Cleveland abduction victims has not spoken to her daughter yet, but hopes she knows she loves her.

Neighbours have said they called police on at least two occasions to check on the peeling, rundown Ohio house where three women, who vanished separately about a decade ago, were being held.

As America began to ask how three women could be held captive in a suburban home for a decade, police revealed they had called to the house twice.

Three brothers have been arrested after women who went missing as girls in separate incidents 10 years ago were found alive and well after being held prisoner.