Amanda Berry made her first public appearance at a Nelly concert during the annual RoverFest music festival, USA Today reports. The crowd was surprised to see the 27-year-old girl but greeted her with a strong applause.
She showed up to the daylong event after the rapper Nelly called the girl on stage with him. Berry, along with members of her family, slowly walked up to the stage waving to the crowd. Members of her family cried. Berry didn't say anything to the crowd but did seem to enjoy herself as she danced alongside the rapper.
Shane French, a Cleveland radio show host for Rover's Morning Glory told the Associated Press in a phone interview that he had unintentionally invited Berry to the concert but didn't think she was even listening to his show.
"I just said that she had 10 years of partying to make up for and she should come," French said.
He said he was shocked when security guards told him that she was at the event.
"She didn't say why she decided to come, but some of her family members told me they listen to my show every day and had been to RoverFest in the past," French said.
The public outing came just one day after Ariel Castro, a former school bus driver, pleaded guilty to kidnap and rape charges in a deal that will send him behind bars for life without parole, plus 1,000 years, USA Today reports.
Berry was one of three women held captive by Castro in his home for a decade. Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight disappeared between 2002 and 2004 when they were 16, 14 and 20. In March they escaped after a Berry kicked out part of a door and called to neighbors for help.
