
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, December 27, 1993                   TAG: 9312270021
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MINEOLA, N.Y.                                LENGTH: Short

1 YEAR LATER, IMPRISONED GIRL HEALING

Making the honor roll and going to Disney World would make a pretty good year for any 11-year-old. Even more so for Katie Beers, who spent her 10th birthday chained in a dungeon.

Katie has adjusted well to her new life with the foster family that has cared for her since the story of her sad, squalid existence surfaced a year ago.

In her old life, she was shuttled between her mother, an unemployed taxi driver, and an invalid godmother. An unwashed, skinny waif with straggly hair and skimpy clothes, she was called "the Cockroach Kid" by other children after she was sent home from school for lice.

Katie disappeared Dec. 28, 1992. Sixteen days later, John Esposito, 44, a family friend, led police to a bunker he constructed beneath his garage where he had been holding Katie prisoner. Esposito was charged with kidnapping and sexual abuse and is in jail awaiting trial.

Now, "Katie is developing into a nice young lady," said a friend of the foster family, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "She is getting a lot of attention and love."

Katie was taken in by a foster family in Long Island. Her foster father is a member of the Suffolk County sheriff's staff; her foster mother was herself adopted as a child. Katie's life is structured, secure and stable - a far cry from the one she left behind.

by CNB