MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) - A man convicted of imprisoning a 10-year-old girl for 17 days in a suburban New York dungeon was found dead in his cell, and she expressed sympathy for his family but not for him.
John Esposito was found unresponsive at a prison in Ossining, N.Y., on Wednesday, said spokeswoman Linda Foglia. The death is under investigation but does not appear to be suspicious, she said.
Esposito, 64, was serving 15 years to life for kidnapping Katie Beers and hiding her under his Bay Shore, Long Island, home in 1992.
Beers is now a married mother of two who earned a degree in business management and works in insurance sales near her home in rural Pennsylvania. She also has been making public appearances in recent months to speak about her ordeal.
She told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that state parole officials called her on Wednesday with the news of his death. "They wanted me to hear it from them and not in the media, and that is something I definitely appreciated," Beers said.
She was ambivalent about the news.
"I would never say I was happy about it, but I wasn't saddened about it," Beers said. "There was a loss of a life. Somebody lost an uncle, a brother, whatever, so I am saddened for his family, but I am not saddened by his death."
Beers, now 30, noted the coincidence of Esposito's passing one day after notorious Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro committed suicide.
"I tweeted something about how within 24 hours, two monsters have died."