US police investigating the decade-long kidnap of three Ohio women found ropes and chains in the house where they were held, Cleveland police chief Michael McGrath told NBC television on Wednesday.

"We have confirmation they were bound and there were chains and ropes in the hall," he said on the Today Show, after the three missing women were rescued and three brothers were arrested on suspicion of holding them prisoner.

Standing near the scene of the crime in a working class district of Cleveland, McGrath said he expected the brothers to be charged later in the day, and that officers were interviewing both victims and suspects.

"The investigative task force team, which is comprised of the FBI and Cleveland officers, has been interviewing the victims since last evening and they'll continue today," he said.

He said that until the interviews with the three women were complete, it would not be possible to describe in detail how they were treated, and said he could not confirm reports that the captives had had multiple pregnancies.

McGrath said they had been allowed out of the house "very rarely."

"They were released out in the backyard once in a while I believe," he said, adding: "Their physical wellbeing was very good considering the circumstances."

"Currently, today, we are interviewing the suspects that were arrested here the night before last. They are talking," he said.

He also insisted that he was "absolutely" confident that police that had not missed any opportunities over the previous ten years to find the young women or identify the suspects.

Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, were freed from a home on Seymour Avenue, Cleveland on Monday, around ten years after they disappeared in separate incidents.

The occupant of the home, a 52-year-old former school bus driver of Puerto Rican origin, Ariel Castro, has been detained, along with his brothers, Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50.