According to the hospital, Knight is in good spirits and would like the community to know that she is extremely grateful for the outpouring of flowers and gifts, Action 19 News in Cleveland reported.
Meanwhile, Knight was removed from the FBI's missing persons' database just 15 months after her disappearance, according to a new report.
Cleveland spokeswoman Maureen Harper claimed the cops did the right thing by taking Knight's name off the list in November 2003, The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported.
Harper said cops were unable to contact Michelle's mother Barbara to verify her daughter was still missing.
However, the paper reports that decision conflicts with the department's written policy, where an officer must confirm a missing person has been found and then contact the FBI within two hours before the name is removed.
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Knight was found more alive more than 10 years after her Aug. 23, 2002 disappearance, along with Amanda Berry, 27, and Gina DeJesus, 23, after allegedly being kept as sex slaves by Ariel Castro in Cleveland. Knight, now 32, was reportedly pregnant several times but Castro allegedly beat her until she miscarried The Post previously reported.
Having Knight's name in the National Crime Information Center, called by the FBI as the "lifeline of law enforcement," would have been the only way law enforcement agencies and victims' groups could have helped in the search, the newspaper reports.
Harper said cops continued to work Knight's case, confirming with Barbara that her daughter was still missing through May 2003.
After that, cops were unable to reach the estranged mother by phone, with a detective noting Michelle's case "will remain invalid until new leads develop."
Missing adult advocate Kym Pasqualini said if Michelle's mom had called them for help "we would have had to say no" without an NCIC number to go with Knight's name.
Knight is still in the hospital recovering from her ordeal.
Yesterday Knight's twin brother recalled his shock at seeing her alive for the first time in more than a decade.
“When I saw her, she was white as a ghost,” Freddie Knight, 32, told The Post. “But she told me, ‘Come over here and give me a hug. It’s been ages!’ ”
“She was happy to see me. It was emotional. She even recognized me — even though it had been 11 years.”
Freddie, who is estranged from their mom, Barbara, was the first family member to see Michelle after her escape.
Michelle was raped as a teen, became pregnant and lost the baby to social services just before she vanished in 2002. She was impregnated in the attack and had a child, which she then lost to state custody.
“We didn’t talk about that bad stuff. She’s been through a lot, so she’s not ready to talk about that,” Freddie added.
“I’m glad he’s in jail,” he said of Castro.
“I wish he was dead. He should have a death sentence; all those miscarriages. It’s crazy.”
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