Cleveland kidnap victim Michelle Knight has rejected all attempts by her mother for an emotional reunion, Mail Online can reveal.
More than two months after she was rescued from the house where she was held prisoner for 11 years, the 32-year-old has not yet spoken to her mother.
She has not replied to a single card or letter sent by her mother Barbara Knight and has even refused to see her 10-year-old sister, a family friend told Mail Online.
Such is the gulf between mother and daughter that Barbara had no idea Michelle had made a video for her first public appearance and statement about her ordeal.
Barbara, who lives in South Florida, only found out when a family friend told her about the short video in which Michelle talks about going to 'hell and back.'
The family friend said Barbara is 'very hurt' that her daughter has refused to see her - or even speak with her on the phone.
'Barbara is hurt. She is very hurt. All she wants to do is see and speak to her daughter. She wants her youngest daughter Katie to meet Michelle,' said the friend.
'She has sent lots of letters and cards. Presumably they are being given to Michelle but she has not had a single word from her. She has tried repeatedly to make contact, but has heard nothing back. It is very sad.
Estranged: Barbara Knight, who lives in Naples, Florida, traveled to Cleveland after her daughter was found and tried to see her
'It is hurting her. She is her mother and never gave up hope that she was alive.'
Knight, who went missing in 2002, is believed to have suffered most at the hands of her alleged kidnapper, 52-year-old Ariel Castro.
She was 21 when she was taken off the street in August 2002 and little was made of her disappearance.
Her family told police that she had run away after her young son was taken from her by the Ohio Department of Family Services.
As the oldest of the three girls held captive at Castro's home in Cleveland, Ohio, for over a decade, she was repeatedly raped, according to authorities.
Court documents have revealed she fell pregnant several times but miscarried after being beaten and starved.
Speaking out: Michelle Knight, who spent 11 years locked in Castro's house, sounded a defiant note and in her online appearance and said she would not
Knight was also forced to deliver Castro's daughter by Amanda Berry - who went missing in 2003 aged 17 on her way home from a part time job at a Burger King restaurant.
While Berry, 27, and Gina DeJesus, 23, had emotional reunions with their family in the days after being freed, Knight said she did not want to see her mother.
Barbara Knight flew from her home in Naples, Florida, to Cleveland in the hope of being reunited with her daughter, even going to the hospital where she was being cared for.
But Michelle refused to see her and told authorities to send her away.
'Barbara was very hurt. She had taken her 10-year-old daughter Katie to Cleveland so that she could meet her sister. After a week she had to send Katie back to Naples so she could go back to school,' the family friend told MailOnline.
'All Barbara wants is to see Michelle. Yes, there were things that went on in the past but she wants to move on and move forward.'
The family friend said Barbara had also been hurt by accusations made by other family members that she was a bad mother.
Barbara came in for public criticism after she revealed in May that she did not have a photo of her daughter Michelle.
'Barbara knows the truth and as a friend for over nine years I know she is not a bad mother.
'When Michelle went missing she was upset about having her child taken into care. Barbara doesn't talk about that and what went on, but I can tell you she is a great mother,' the friend said.
The friend, who was with Barbara when she found out on May 6 that her daughter had been found, asked Mail Online not to publish her name.
She has since moved from Naples to another location in south Florida.
The friend revealed that Barbara had turned down several big money offers from TV networks to talk about her daughter.
'Barbara is not interested in money. All she wants is to be reunited with her daughter. When she is ready to talk it will be on her terms,' the friend said.
Giving thanks: Amanda Berry, 27, and Gina DeJesus, 23, both appeared in the brief video, posted late last night on the YouTube page for the public relations firm that the women hired
Knight spoke in a halting voice in the video released by a Cleveland-based public relations firm primarily so they could thanks family and supporters.
Knight said in the video that she is building a 'brand new life.'
'I may have been through hell and back, but I am strong enough to walk through hell with a smile on my face and my head held high,' she said, reading from a prepared statement.
'I will not let the situation define who I am. I will define the situation. I don't want to be consumed by hatred.'
Kathy Joseph, Knight's attorney, said in a statement that the three women wanted to 'say thank you to people from Cleveland and across the world, now that two months have passed.'
All three women could come face to face with their alleged captor next month when he stands trial on 139 counts of rape, 177 counts of kidnapping, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, three counts of felonious assault and one count of possession of criminal tools.
Castro, a former school bus driver, has pleaded not guilty.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2359159/Cleveland-kidnapping-case-Michelle-Knight-REFUSED-meet-mother.html#ixzz2YhWQ51Pl
Michelle's mother was involved with an abusive man who abused Michelle's young son. This abuse set in motion the chain of events which eventually led to Michelle losing custody of her son. There was a hearing scheduled the day she was kidnapped regarding his removal. Because her mother told officials she believed she ran away, Michelle was not listed as endangered or missing so no search was made. BTW, her mother who "loves her and is so hurt" admitted to not having a single photograph of her missing daughter. God Bless You Michelle and I pray for your continued healing.
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