2010 Prius hatchback door jammed

My wife tried to close the hatchback door on our 2010 Prius I, something was in the way, she forced it and now I can't get the door to unlock. I tried the manual door release which is small metal lever on the lock assembly (as covered in the user manual); however, the lock won't release the striker. I've unbolted the lock assembly to see if the striker was jammed in the lock mechanism. I can now rock the lock assembly back and forth and I don't see any foreign objects in the locking mechanism, but still cannot open the lock. Any idea on how to manually open the lock mechanism (is there somewhere I can apply pressure to force the mechanism to open and release the striker)? Again, the metal lever discussed in the user guide does not work. Thanks for any input.

 

That worked! Thanks. I had to apply a LOT of pressure and was worried about damaging the door while doing that; however, it opened and now appears mostly fine. The door doesn't open 100% smoothly like it did before. I applied WD-40 to the lock mechanism which appears to have helped. If it doesn't resolve I'll replace the lock mechanism and striker. Do junk yards stock Prius autos or are they immediately crushed/isolated because of potential issues with batteries?