RSSMissing Missouri Teen William ‘Ben’ Ownby FOUND ALIVE … with 2002 Missing Boy, Shawn Hornbeck (Suspect: Michael J. Devlin)
Breaking news from FOX … Unbelievable great news … William Ownby … HE’S SAFE.
THE MIRACLE IN MISSOURI
FANTASTIC NEWS IS BEING REPORTED OUT OF MISSOURI
Not just one missing children’s case solved, but two
Report: FBI Finds Missing Missouri Teen Alive With Boy Who Went Missing in 2002 The stunning news coming in that not only is William Ben Ownby been found safe, so has Shawn Hornbeck, a boy who has been missing since October 6, 2002. Hornbeck was 12 years old when he went missing from Richwoods, MO. FOX 4 Live News Feed:
News conference from St. Louis: William Ben Ownby was found Friday afternoon in Kirkwood. Ben, 13, went missing on Monday after getting off his school bus near his Beaufort, Missouri home. Ben was found along with Shawn Hornbeck who had been missing since 2002. If you are seeing black, the newscast may be in a break. Please wait and the stream will resume shortly.
UPDATE I: 41 year old Michael J. Devlin has been arrested. Devlin was a previously convicted sex offender. Devlin was a registered sex offender in Utah; however, never registered in Missouri. Correction: Devlin was not registered sex offender in Utah, different individual. Michael Devlin was arrested on first degree kidnapping charges and is being help on $1 million bond. It is most likely that more charges will be added in the near future.
(Hat Tip: Klaas; Correction, this is the man arrested today)
Kudos to the people in the neighborhood who the police asked to not contact the media as they were in the process of trying to make a major arrest in this case. Great job. The police, FBI and all that were involved in this case should be given a tremendous round of applause.
UPDATE II: Boy missing since 2002 found alive
ST. LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) — Two missing Missouri boys, one of them missing since 2002, were found alive in a Kirkwood, Missouri, apartment, and a suspect was arrested, Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke said Friday.
Shawn Hornbeck, 15, of Richwoods, Missouri, was last seen riding his bike to a friend’s house in October 2002. Richwoods is about 60 miles south of St. Louis.
William Ben Ownby, 13, had been missing since Monday. He was last seen after getting off his school bus in Franklin County, near St. Louis.
Both boys appear to be healthy and have been reunited with their families, Toelke said.
“Obviously there’s some very happy people that were here,” he said.
Update III: The big break came according to police when they served a search warrant on an 
apartment and noticed a white pick up matching the description from the William Ownby Amber Alert.
Toelke said the break in the case came Thursday night. Kirkwood city police officers were serving a warrant on an apartment complex when they noticed a white truck matching the description of a vehicle authorities had been searching for in the Ownby investigation.
Kirkwood officers contacted the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department and determined where the owner of the truck was and then searched Devlin’s house.
Toelke said authorities were surprised to find another boy who identified himself as Shawn Hornbeck. (AP)
UPDATE IV: The amazing fact is that the two boys were kidnapped about 38 miles from each other’s home. William “Ben” Ownby was kidnapped from Beaufort, MO, while Shawn Hornbeck went missing from Richwoods, MO.
(Fox News)
UPDATE V: Pam Akers, the mother of missing Shawn Hornbeck, reunited with her son after 4 years.
A parents grief of dealing with the loss of a child can only be the worst thing that they can go through in their lives. The blessing and miracle that occurs in reuniting with their lost child has got to be the great feeling ever. Such is the case with Pam Akers, the mom of Shawn Hornbeck. Her prayers have been answered.
“Shawn is a miracle here,” his mother, Pam Akers, said Saturday at an elementary school in his hometown of Richwoods. “We’re glad to have him home. I still feel like I’m in a dream, only this time it’s a good dream, not the nightmare I’ve had four-and-a-half years.” (FOX News)
UPDATE VI: Parents rejoice after 2 Mo. boys found
The boys’ parents clung to them and focused on their joy at the shocking outcome, saying little about the 41-year-old man charged in the case or how the teens were treated.
The boys — 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck, abducted more than four years ago, and 13-year-old Ben Ownby, taken after getting off his school bus Monday afternoon — smiled shyly and appeared at ease.
“I still feel like I’m in a dream, only this time it’s a good dream, not the nightmare I’ve had four-and-a-half years,” Hornbeck’s mother, Pam Akers, said Saturday at an elementary school adorned with balloons and welcome-home signs.
Ecstatic parents of boys found in Missouri hail ‘miracle’
“We’ve got a lot of catching up to do,” said a tearful Pam Akers. “He’s grown up on me, that’s for sure.”
“Shawn is a miracle here,” she said.
“This is one of those rare, rare things. To have one missing child found is just extraordinary,” Craig Akers told reporters. “To have two found at the same time is one of those things — you don’t even read about things like that.” (CNN)
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85 Responses to “Missing Missouri Teen William ‘Ben’ Ownby FOUND ALIVE … with 2002 Missing Boy, Shawn Hornbeck (Suspect: Michael J. Devlin)”
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A boy missing since 2002 has been found !!!!!
Where is our faith? Until Natalee is found, she must always
be considered missing, disappeared… for:
who knows what really happened…
But, whatever it was, it was bad.
We celebrate in relief for the family of Shawn Beck! How
happy you all must be. Only goes to prove that it’s not
over til it’s over. Where there is life, there’s hope!
What a glorious day this must be for you all. Congrats!
Perhaps, we have a hero in our midsts? I haven’t read the
full story, but someone soon is sure to recieve a salute
from me!
I wonder how many missing person posters they had to put up before he was found?
You’ve all heard the latest about how the island of Saba
told Joel Gove’s family that they were not allowed to post any missing-person posters on their island, in search of
their loved one:
They say it is “bad for tourism”
I say we COVER Aruba!
What sha gonna do, Mr. Oduber?
Call your militants?
The ones that smuggle much of the worlds supply of
“X”, Cocaine and Heroine to The Netherlands, the
U.S. … not to mention that you use that shit on
your own people!
But you also transport “Human Slaves” from Columba
and Venezuella from Aruba through much of Europe!
Where ya been, America?
Have you read your posts made by your own State Department?
600,000 to 800,000 Slaves transported per year, 80% of them
women and girls!!!!!
I wonder, What do they do TO them?
an answer to prayers. a true miracle.
GOOD news, for a change.
Thank God! That is such wonderful news! I said several prayers for William Ownby this week, as I’m sure many did, and it’s just so amazing that Shawn Hornbeck has also been found and is back with his family.
Praise God!! Made my day!!
I’m glad to hear this good news. Thank God for miracles. I didn’t think this story would turn out so good. Shows what a good police force and teamwork can do.
I think they should make a 1 strike your out law for sex offenders. Find an island let them go live it on it. They can offend each other. Sending these people out to live around young children and females is like putting a couple wolves in the hen house. It’s just an accident waiting to happen. Look out many little kids and women would be spared if they did.
Great news. Doesn’t happen often. These predators should just be sent away .
I’m curious as to why the kid who was missing since 2002 never tried to get in touch with his parents or anyone considering he was only 60 miles away. Sounds like kids these days need taught a thing or two. I am 27 and my parents made it clear what is perverted and what is not, seems like maybe the kid had some issues when he was taken. Maybe more needs done in the school systems to open up and talk about sexuality…maybe the little boy was curious and thats why he never tried to get home. Just like the girl from Pittsburgh who ran away to be with the school guard at 14 and lived there for 11 years or so before trying to get “help” and saying she was a victim recently. Seems to me she liked what she had until she grew up then realized she didn’t want him anymore.
DEVLIN – THE DEVIL:
May you rot in hell!
WOW THIS IS A MIRACLE!! A DOUBLE MIRACLE!!
Two boys! Alive! I’m so happy & see ya’ll are too! This pos 35 year old dude won’t make the 1 million dollar bail and thats alright with me.
liz, none of us know what Shawn Hornbeck went through, but think for a minute, how hard would it really be for a pervert like Devlin to break an 11 year old boy? If Devlin threatened to kill him, kept him locked up and hurt him for the first few weeks or months, threatened to kill his family? How long do you think it would take before the boy broke mentally, and stopped trying to get away? I think it might not be that hard for a sick, sadistic person to take control of the will of a child. I hope neither I nor any of mine ever have to face anything like what Shawn Hornbeck has been through.
You really can’t compare this to the girl who ran away to live with the school guard, Shawn was abducted by a stranger, there is no indication they had a prior relationship. Also, there have been three other children between the ages of 11 and 13 who have disappeared from that same area since 1989, makes you wonder if Devlin was involved in those disappearances, and if so, what he did with those children.
Maggie! Love that idea!~ post#8
This scumbag should never get the chance to do this again.
Liz:
Maybe the boy was so scared that he didn’t dare do anything… just wait. We know not what a psychopath will do or why. Nor do we know how we might react. Survival is key.
Kat Gram – i find your post disturbing. What is wrong with you? Do you not see the incredible psychological impact that can be driven with mailce in to an adolescent mind? Are you suggesting that the child is to blame here??? What is wrong with you…and if you don’t know, you need help. Thank God these boy’s have been found. Pray to God they have not been damaged for life. May their abductor face the ultimate in penalty.
_____________
SM: Glad to see you corrected this post and directed it to LIZ and not Kat_Gram. I was trying to figure out what Kat_Gram said, lol
(klaasend)
I’m sorry – my reply should be addressed to Liz…not Kat Gram….sorry Kat Gram….not sorry Liz
Sorry sorry again Kat Gram…missed who wrote the best that bothered me…but have no problem in saying it was the LIZ post….read post #10 and I believe you will all agree that LIZ is way out of line here.
Thank – God.
You have between 600,000 to 800,000 people dropping from sight, missing, every year.
That’s a small nation, why don’t they cry out for help?
Take a look at “Torture” and the effects of it. You would be amazed at the results and will come to know what it is truly like to be a victim of abduction.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Shawn Beck. May he forever be held in the grace of our God.
I was afraid the boy would be found dead. I saw his dad talking about his son last night, he must be the happiest man in the world right now. Make the second happiest coz another family has just learned their son who’s been gone 4 years (or is it 5?) is alive.
Can you even imagine that?
Eerily similar to another case where a boy was kidnapped and found years later. Believe a movie was made about the Stephen Stayner case. What boggles the mind is that there are these predators who are so brazen out there. Thank heavens the boys were found. Now for an honest opinion, maybe the same fate that Saddam Hussein met should be mandatory for these predators. Honestly, you think if they were to be fitted for a new neck tie, the may well just decide to take a cold shower rather than snatch a child.
Hang em’ Don’t see any usefulness for a child predator.
Glad these boys were returned to their families.
That picture on this front page does not look anything like the man who was arrested today.
____________
SM: You are so right. That is a picture from the Utah sexual predator database. The man I saw on TV tonight looks like he’s put on about 100 pounds. Looks like a completely different person (klaasend)
Maybe the Iraques do not have it all wrong at that,
If a person is convicted of child pedophilia and or molestation 30 days for appeals then a short walk to the
Exicution Tabel,Chair or Gallows, not really a problem with that. Then it is assured that that perpatrator will never do an act like that again .
Punishment trials and appeals in America take way too long . If Justice was swifter and a lot more definintive then we might see some change .
This is SUCH great news!!! Is everyone sure this is the same Michael Devlin in the TX/OR predators pics, which shows 6′tall 180 lb? Others reported a 6’3 300lb man, which they showed being arrested. He looks nothing like the predator picture listed above.
AP: Several media reports said Devlin was a registered sex offender in Utah. But the Utah offender and the Missouri suspect appeared to be different people. The Utah Department of Corrections said the Devlin living in Kirkwood had a different Social Security number than the sex offender in Utah.
If true, and they are 2 different people, what are the chances?
Either way, they are both sick f#$Ks.
Thank God and the person that gave the tip that found these two boys..one of them missing for 5 years..this is a miracle..So happy for the boys and their parents..
There is still hope that Natalie will turn up alive..
This would be another miracle..I am still believing in her return.
Hey Skyboxx!
I’m familiar with the Stayner case, as i recall Steven grew up with his captor & while still in teens the perv wanted another younger boy & used Steven to entrap another preteen boy.
This case sounds like the same thing was happening.
Check this out.
Steven Stayner returned to his family but was killed in a motorcycle accident just a couple of years later. Not long after his death Steven’s older brother Cary Stayner killed 3 female tourists at CedarLodge Inn right outside the Yosemite National Forrest. Cary worked at the lodge as a maintinence man several years before he killed the woman, her teenaged daughter & daughter’s friend.
Ok here’s where it gets weird for me regrding this case. Just 1 year & 1/2 before the murders i stayed at the lodge while on vacation & my room was next to the one the tourists were killed in. It was a newly built part of the lodge & well away from the lodge office & general store. Cary was working there during my vacation, i remembered seeing him when i was checking in. Cary also murdered & decapitated a petite female National Forrest Ranger before he was captured.
Jerry – I totaly agree with you. The justice system here is ridiculous! People get longer jail time for drug offenses! The predators have nothing to fear, so why not go ahead and fulfill their fantasies? I hope this guy gets put away forever, and that every other prisoner there is made aware of what he is – let the punishment fit the crime. We have no use for pedophiles and sexual predators – they should have no rights whatsoever.
Thank God!
There are Happy Endings, and this seems to be one.
It sounds like Shawn had it the worst,
stuck living with that sicko for so long.
I hope they pay a lot of attention to him
with rehabilitation, and he get all
of the attention he needs.
The last thing this world
needs is another psycho-
roach infested brain the
likes of Michael Devlin’s!
Isn’t it wonderful Carpe!~
Praise the Lord!!!
Two boys and their families were blessed.
I believe the laws should hold the kidnappers or sex affenders to the highest degree of the law and the maximum penalties. Life in prison or death. That’s exactly what they put their victims in/thru, they place their “lives in prison”. No chance to perole, only life in prison or the death penalty.
I’m sure there will be a lot of investigation leading back to the first days of these boys’ disappearance, and how they managed to adjust to their new existence.
Remember that Austrian girl, held for eight years in a basement apartment not so far from her home.
People instinctively want to survive.
I’m celebrating this wonderful and joyous news like everyone else. I’m also thinking … though the results in this case don’t necessarily apply, doesn’t this make it seem a little more credible that Amy Bradley, kidnapped from the cruise ship in March 1998, could indeed have managed to survive?
And, perhaps, the same for Natalee Holloway. Let us hope!
Mayan Moons (#28) … have you read about the case of Johnny Gosch, the newspaper boy who vanished in Iowa quite some time ago? Apparently some teen-agers later said in that case that they helped abduct him, and in fact that they had been “trained” to do this, on the theory that kids will be more likely to let their suspicions down in the company of other kids. In the same way, female hitchhikers are more likely (I’ve read) to trust women, and especially women with babies or young children, than one or more men.
All of the facts in the Johnny Gosch case are in dispute, though. I certainly don’t know the truth, but it is horrific reading.
Anyway, only one of the boys vanished five years ago; the other one went missing recently. Is it possible that this predator used the one to help lure the other? We’ll find out, I hope.
It’s frightening to imagine the dreams that these sick animals might be dwelling on, even as their neighbors have no idea. With all the hoopla about movie stars and entertainers, I think ordinary parents who try to raise their children decently should get media applause as well.
I am so happy for both families. This is just so unreal and such GOOD NEWS. I have a thought regarding the freak who took these kids…Shawn Hornbeck was getting older and Devlin wanted a younger boy. I believe he planned on killing Shawn after he abducted William. I hope investigators look into other missing cases in the area during the time span….understand what I am saying?
Nut4x4, you’re not alone, that is exactly what I was thinking.
Many many people prayed for the safe return of Ben. On my way to work Thursday morning I prayed in my car out loud and with strong intent that Ben would be found alive and unharmed. After I finished praying I felt at complete peace. I knew in my heart that he would be found. I believe that comfort was the holy spirit. When I heard the news that not only was Ben found but Shawn too I was overjoyed. The power of prayer is unfathomable. Let’s now all pray for Shawn, Ben, and their families. May they live a long healthy peaceful life.
The amazing thing is the truck ID. If Mitchell had not been so observant there would not have been a clue as to where those boys were found and that perp may have not been caught ever.
Another reason for everyone who was with NH in Aruba to be interviewed. You just never know what someone might remember that might be important.
______________
SM: Everyone that was with NH on the trip HAS been interviewed (klaasend)
It is so insulting to come to come on this page & insinuate that whats holding up Natalee’s investigation when you have the LYING SCUM VDS’s withholding what they know. Shows you have no respect for these two boys & their families no more than you do for Natalee.
Hey Richard!
I do remember Johnny Gosch….i’ll never forget him. I do not know of other children saying they helped to abduct him though. Most recent when someone sent a pic to Johnny’s mother of 4 children mying on a bed all tied up has turned out to be a hoax? Only an evil person would do that to his poor mother.
I do think the older boy was used as a lure. I just heard this POS was part time in a Funeral Home?? geeesh
oops im so excited……he worked part time in a funeral home.
Richard……after seeing that picture that looked like Amy on Dr. Phil’s show i do believe she could be alive. The pic & sightings of a female with the same tatoo’s is very compelling. I worry though that some people could just be stringing the family along for money when they contact juat the family & not law enforcement first.
wow what a difference 4 years can make.
Shawn looked like a baby almost when he was taken. He is a handsome young man now & i have no doubt in my mind that he used Shawn to lure a younger boy (ben) into the truck.
Ben’s neighbor Mitchell is a HERO!
Unlike the Sloots he took a polygraph & never waivered. I’m so thankful for Mitchell, without him the police wouldn’t know where to be looking or what to be looking for.
Well I am glad that was cleared up before my nostrils started to flare.
We do not know what this evil pervert told the boy.
These guys ( perverts ) know how to manipulate and instill fear. Fear for self, fear for pets, fear for Mumma and Dad.
These boys are going to need love and support, not questions like this, eh ?
I think the younger kid was taken as the other kid was too old…. coming into adulthood when the perp wanted a puberty aged one. All will be revealed, but for the sake of these kids who have to lead the rest of their lives, leave out the details which cause the media to salivate for a ratings grab at the expense of the health of the kids and their respective families.
I agree Kat_Gram no one knows what Shawn was told or what that SOB did to him. He did what he had to do to stay alive. His step father speaking today on Fox brought tears to my eyes. The step father made mention of one of the websites they made for their son Shawn and in particular of some Recent Postings regarding his son???
Regarding postings on Shawn Hornbeck’s website, PearlinUSA posted this at BFN, just heartbreaking if this was indeed posted by Shawn:
a poste, Kellanr put this on tonight on FOB .. it is intriguing and sad ..
Kellan wrote:
Look at what I just found – look and tell me if it looks like Shawn had tried to send some kind of message to the Shawn Hornbeck web site???
shawn devlin – Thursday, December 1, 2005 – 1:59 AM
kirkwood
how long are you planing to look for your son?
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:o61Zl-2t70UJ:www.shawnhornbeck.com/guestbook.cfm+%22shawn+devlin%22+missouri&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3&client=firefox-a
look at the name “Shawn Devlin” and the location: Kirkwood
Mayan Moons (42) … Did you read the article about Latin American trafficking that I posted on the latest Natalee thread? The police there are often as corrupt as the traffickers. I think few people trust them. Also, if you admit the existence of mercenary motives, anyone who operated through the police would never get a reward.
As for Johnny Gosch, it was a photo of three teenage boys. I didn’t think the photo was genuine because to me, they didn’t look scared enough for the circumstances. But the mother insists that it IS authentic … and I can’t say.
Either way, there are frightening, horrible things out there. Which makes this event something to truly celebrate.
Bandit (38) … the Aruba police sent a delegation over to talk with the Mountain Brook kids. Then they went home. As far as I know, they have not told anyone any detail of what went on. I think it was nothing but an effort aimed at public opinion … “See how diligent we are!”
Patty-cake, patty-cake, baker’s man ….
#28 & #34. The film made about Steven Stayner was “My name is Steven” which I think was about all he could remember from his life with his parents. He also had a lot of difficulty settling back into his old life as he had spent so long away and living a really bad lifestyle. Not sure if it is the same case, but I remember reading where a found child told that when they had been abducted they were told by the scumbag that their parents had been killed in an accident and he was the person that the authorities had appointed to be guardian. Perverted POS.
Had a case here few years back where a woman went out and abducted a early teens girl and took her home for the de facto husband so he would love the woman more!!! They then killed the girl and both the scumbags got a long goal sentence. Should have hung them both with no argument, but by all reports they have (especially her) had a very rough time in goal.
I understood that there were a few kids from Mtn Brook who refused to be interviewed. Their families had lawyers who advised them against it. It may just one little detail that might solve the case.
I just hope and pray that these boys will be ok. The older boy has been gone a long time. God bless all of the families and their road ahead will be hard. At least their children are alive.
_______________
SM: You honestly believe that there are MB kids that refused to be interviewed by the FBI? You can’t be serious (klaasend)
Richard i should have made it clear as to which law enforcement i was referring to. I meant to say the FBI and the MBI and state & local LE. I understand all to well why no one is going to Aruba LE
Klaasend, I am on Natalee’s side and hope that they all were interviewed including FEB,William, all of the people who were her friends. I hope every one of them told every little detail of that week that they could remember. I don’t think any of them had anything to do with Natalee’s disappearance. Sometimes when you think back, you can remember something that might not have seemed important at the time. Sometimes the more you discuss something the clearer everything becomes in your memory, especially if everyone else is remembering too. Let’s hope that happened.
This case of the missing boy from MO,Shawn, being found after 4 years and little Ben too has to give a glimmer of home to Natalee’s family.
I pray that she is still alive.
I did read the article Richard thank you, its staggering the numbers of people that its happening to. I’m thinking more attention by our Federal & State LE need to put finding these missing people. Put these missing persons at the top of the list with National Security and *war* on drugs be # 3 or 4 in the US list of priorities.
I see no comparison between Natalee’s case and the 2 boys case other than I believe they were both abducted or falsely led. Being on an island of 100,000 people and a country of 300 million makes a big difference. They’ve already made statements that if they find Natalee they will see that chit,,and if they find her Joran will get 15 years and Paulus called her a body. The photoshopped picture of Joran with Natalee in Alabama is one of the creepiest. I don’t believe she has been alive since she went missing. Most kids who are abducted are dead within 3 or 4 hours afterwards. This case indeed is a rare case with such wonderful news.
Yes Maggie its rare…..so rare to have a double miracle like this, another miracle moment is with Shasta who was rescued because total strangers who’d seen her face on tv and intervened by calling police & stating they were prepared to keep Shasta inside the Dennny’s until police arrived. They were NOT going to let that SOB leave with lil Shasta. They are hero’s too.
Hey Tibrogaran!
You’re right, thats the name of the movie & adjusting was difficult for Steven. Lots of people like you guys/gals wishing only the very best for a person who’s had his freedom taken…..no stolen away. Yes there will be difficult times no question but ya know what, i watched the way he looked at his Mother and smiled while his step father was telling us what was happening to them. That they were driving arround when detectives called out of the blue and were asked to pull over to the side of the road before he gave them some news!!! Can you imagine getting a call like that?
I think that they should lock these people up for the rest of their lives, too. Instead, we put them in a cell block that is made up of people like them who are sexually deranged. They learn new tricks of the trade and are, then, unleashed upon an unsuspecting public.
It seems that Washington state enacted a law in hopes of keeping these “predators” off our streets by making it impossible from someone that is deemed as such is inelligible for parole. Anyone hear if other states have done the same?
Seeing how much Shawn’s step father loves him & his smile at his mother made me hopeful that it’ll be alright for this family again. I’ll pray for that.
Hey mayan_moons – Yes I know what you mean. Saw the reunion on Fox News channel this morning and it looks like things should be OK for the family. Hope the media just leave them alone to sort things out privately.
That sort of news would be way way better than winning the lottery. God bless them all.
And pats to Pedro.
When asked by friends in Kirkwood if Shawn was Shawn Hornbeck he replied No and changed the subject. I believe Stockholm Syndrome is real based on Hornbeck’s experience and other abducted children’s similiar stories. I hope moronic people in the future do not give him a hard time about adapting to the horiific situation he was put in against his will. God Bless him!
oh god i actually felt sooooo happppy sametime little crying smile for him and i dont even kno who he is but still !:-D In my dream long ago i was kidnapped i was scream in my house it was just dream sigh im panic if it happen to me eh….
he look so cute! honestly i couldnt believe if i had child and never see them for couple years and finally see them later it was bigg changed compare when he is young.
hope he felt comortable back with his family (smile soft)
i was shocked when i heard a news that he missing for 4 YEARS oh god i actually felt sooooo happppy sametime little crying smile for him and i dont even kno who he is but still !:-D In my dream long ago i was kidnapped i was scream in my house it was just dream sigh im panic if it happen to me eh….
he look so cute! honestly i couldnt believe if i had child and never see them for couple years and finally see them later it was bigg changed compare when he is young.
hope he felt comortable back with his family (smile soft)
Thank God that both of these boys were found ALIVE! I continue to pray that if Natalee is still alive, she will be found as soon as possible.
PRAISE THE LORD
A HAPPY ENDING
Keep praying these families have alot of work in front of them.
every body should have a man like Shawn’s step father in their life.
Maggie, certainly nobody can be too confident that Natalee is alive. The fact that the Austrian girl, who vanished without a trace, was held alive for EIGHT YEARS not far from her home, in a basement apartment, does not prove that Natalee is alive.
Nor does this miracle story from Missouri.
Nor does the saga of Amy Bradley, for whom sightings have been reported since her kidnapping in March 1998. The most recent reported sighting of which I know was about a year ago.
But this does give us hope, or me, anyway.
Here’s an article on this miracle and on the theme of the ‘Stockholm Syndrome’:
Search: All News Yahoo! News Only News Photos Video/Audio Advanced
——————————————————————————–
Questions linger after 2 Mo. boys found By BETSY TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer
34 minutes ago
KIRKWOOD, Mo. – Investigators who made the incredible discovery of two kidnapped boys in a tiny apartment turned Saturday from euphoria to some troubling questions.
ADVERTISEMENT
What could have motivated the suspect? How did he treat the boys? And how was he able to keep them hidden in plain sight just an hour’s drive from their hometowns – one for four days, the other for four years?
“It’s hard to believe that somebody could be that brazen,” said Craig Akers, whose stepson Shawn Hornbeck was abducted in 2002 at age 11. “This has been going on four years, and he’s been right under our nose the whole time.”
In back-to-back news conferences Saturday, parents of the now-15-year-old Hornbeck and 13-year-old Ben Ownby told of an outpouring of hugs, kisses and “I love yous” following the discovery in this St. Louis suburb Friday that they described as nothing short of a miracle.
The sons smiled often by their parents’ sides but were told not to answer questions. Police said they could not discuss details of their investigation of 41-year-old Michael Devlin, who was jailed on $1 million bond on a kidnapping charge and could face more charges before an arraignment later this week.
Neighbors in the two-story, brick apartment complex said Devlin, a burly, 300-pound man with wire-rimmed glasses and a beard, hardly appeared to be keeping secrets. He had lifelong ties to this middle-class suburb of 26,000, family in the area and apparently no criminal record beyond a pair of traffic fines. He was often seen coming and going from his jobs at a pizza parlor and a funeral home, and nothing seemed odd about a teenager seen hanging around his place.
Others said Devlin said little and stayed to himself – unless someone took the parking spot he preferred. Last fall, when Rob Bushelle pulled into the unassigned spot, Devlin pulled next to him and became irate, threatening to call police.
The landlord at the apartment, Bill Romer, said he was in the apartment once to fix a plumbing problem and saw the teen, apparently Hornbeck, sleeping.
“As far as I knew, that was his son living with him,” Romer said. “The kid’s bedroom didn’t even have curtains on the windows.”
Rick Butler, 43, who lives across the street, said he saw no evidence that the boy was scared or trying to get away. He even saw Devlin and the teen pitch a tent outside in the complex, which sits near railroad tracks and Interstate 44 in a working-class section of well-to-do Kirkwood.
“I didn’t see or hear anything odd or unusual from the apartment,” Butler said. “I just figured them for father and son.”
Last fall, Butler said he found a cell phone outside, called a number on it and the teen came outside to retrieve it.
“Thanks a lot for the phone,” he recalled the boy saying.
Alma Rodriguez often saw the teenager riding his bike in the parking lot behind the complex. Her husband, Mario, sometimes saw him throwing a football with another boy. Hornbeck did not attend school during his time in captivity, his stepfather said.
Harry Reichard, 33, who lives in the apartment directly above Devlin’s basement apartment, said he would hear arguing and banging noises at all hours coming from the apartment.
At the Bopp Chapel funeral parlor, where Devlin worked a twice-a-week shift answering phones, he was described as a punctual but quiet worker who never discussed his private life.
“I can’t tell you the feeling here,” said funeral director Chris Roth. “Complete excitement for the boys being found to shock that it was him.”
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Devlin’s relatives also were shocked by the case and said they had no idea the boy was with him.
At Imo’s Pizzeria, where Devlin was a manager, an employee who did not want to be identified told the newspaper that a boy called the restaurant Friday afternoon looking for Devlin, who was being questioned by the FBI at the time. The worker noticed on the caller ID that the call came from Devlin’s home. The boy told him, “I’m Shawn Wilcox. My father is a friend of Mike Devlin.”
********************
The case recalls the improbable survival of Elizabeth Smart, the Salt Lake City teen taken for nine months by a religious zealot. After her return, many questioned why she didn’t flee her captors, despite many apparent chances at freedom.
Stephen Golding, a forensic psychologist who examined the suspect in the Smart case, said captors often establish control over their victims through fear.
“People are led to believe, through someone taking advantage of their vulnerabilities, that leaving is not an option, that things will get worse for them or will get worse for others,” Golding said.
**************
Both boys were abducted from rural areas of eastern Missouri, both about an hour from metro St. Louis. Hornbeck disappeared Oct. 6, 2002, while riding his bike in Richwoods in Washington County. Ownby was taken soon after getting off a school bus Monday afternoon in the Franklin County town of Beaufort, a beat-up white pickup seen by a schoolmate the only real clue.
On Thursday night, police in Kirkwood, an upper middle class suburban town, noticed a truck matching the description while serving an unrelated warrant at a nearby apartment.
When FBI agents walked into a suburban St. Louis apartment a day later, 13-year-old Ownby asked them, “Are you going to take me home?”, and another teenager in the modest dwelling identified himself as Hornbeck – reported missing 4 1/2 years ago.
“Obviously it was quite euphoric,” FBI Special Agent Roland Corvington said Saturday.
Hornbeck’s parents dealt with their grief over the years by devoting themselves to bringing missing people home. Having their son back, they said at a news conference, was evidence for parents of other missing children to never give up hope.
“I still feel like I’m in a dream, only this time it’s a good dream, not the nightmare I’ve had four-and-a-half years,” said his mother, Pam Akers.
Hornbeck’s stepfather, Craig Akers, said he and his wife were in disbelief when they were reunited with the boy.
“There was that split second of shock,” he said. “Once I saw the face, I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s my son.’”
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, about 58,000 children are the victims of non-family abductions. The vast majority of those children are returned safely.
An average of 115 cases, however, involve children taken by non-family members for long periods, put up for ransom or killed by their abductors. Of that number, about 60 come home safely, said center spokeswoman Joann Donnellan.
But what makes the boys’ case rare, Donnellan said, is the fact that a single abductor took multiple children. The case was made rarer still by the length of Hornbeck’s captivity, Donnellan said.
At the news conference in an elementary school adorned with balloons and welcome-home signs, the shaggy-haired Hornbeck smiled sheepishly, his mother’s arm draped around him.
At the other news conference, Ben Ownby grinned broadly as his mother recalled that soon after his return home, Ownby immediately went to the computer to play video games.
“We’re just ecstatic,” Doris Ownby said. “Don’t want to let him go out of our sight.”
maggie – especially after this incredible story, how dare you come here and dash the hopes of Natalee Holloway’s family. This gives hope to all families of missing children!
Thank God for this miracle for these families.
I just want to say that I am afraid that Shawn was maybe lied to “maybe mr. devlin said your mom died in a car accident” I have to pick you up and take you there to get him in the vehicle. I don’t know I am sure that Shawn went thru his own personal hell. Mr. Devlin might have made do things that Shawn could of been ashamed of or blackmailed him or maybe said who knows what. I am glad Shawn has coped with himself, you never know after a while he might have grown fond of mr. devlin who knows. I hope and pray he can get past this he will need to seek professional help to resolve personal issues. He might night tried to get away because you never know mr. devlin may have threatned him or he was going to get his family or friends. Bless the family and friends who searched and prayed. I know deep down Shawn wanted to be home, maybe he just didn’t know how, and was afraid he might be in trouble. God Bless everyone. And I am very glad for Ben’s family and friends. There is a God.
FOX is reporting a strange bit of news about Shawn Hornbeck. There are entries from a “Shawn Devlin” in “Kirkwood” posted in the guestbook at the website dedicated to the search for Shawn Hornbeck.
To see them, go here http://tinyurl.com/yhxp72 and scroll down to the “Thursday, December 1, 2005 – 1:59 AM” and the “Thursday, December 1, 2005 – 2:56 PM” entries in the guestbook.
Also go here http://tinyurl.com/y9w88q to see the Yahoo profile of “shawn_the_pumpkin_king,” also a “Shawn Devlin” in “Kirkwood” St.Louis, MO. Look at the photo attached the the profile. Is that Shawn Hornbeck?
#65 – Put a sock in it. Maggie’s 100% right.
Apparently Shawn, the boy who was missing for five years, made that comment on his parents’ Website himself. This defies belief. I hope the psychologists will be giving this whole episode a good, long look.
You know, I’ve never been a believer in Shango, but this whole development brings to mind one of his quotes: “The Americans are looking in all the wrong places.”
Still and all, we can’t take for granted that because THIS one-in-a-million miracle happened, that it is necessarily the same for Natalee. I believe there is a good chance, but that is all.
What really matters is that we pressure the Dutch to get us answers. Aruba clearly has no intention of doing so.
Everyone is wondering why didn’t Shawn try to get away! He was only eleven years old and who knows maybe the jerk hit him with his car or truck and knocked him out when abducting him. Please remember Bianca the little girl from Foley, MO; Gina Dawn Brooks from Fredricktown, Mo she too was not far from her home and taken off of her bike. People need to be looking right in their own neighborhoods and keep their eyes open, and don’t be afraid to get involved. We adults need to be watching out for our kids.
Hint, Hint,, Ben and Shawn were found with the man who took both of them, as was Elizabeth Smart. They didn’t take them and claim they left them on the beach at 3am in a foreign country because they were upset about no condoms, wanted to see stars etc, where someone else came along and victimized them again. I have hope that Natalee and her family get justice as for Natalee being alive I have none. Too many creepy things surrounding the people she was last known with and the behaviour of all of them. for ex.. Deepak raped and killed and buried Natalee, Joran left her on the beach , he couldn’t get her to wake up, Natalee was falling asleep and waking up, Natalee hit her head, I think Joran raped her,, Anyone who believes an 18 year old female wanted to sit on the beach at 3am alone in a foreign country or that she told Joran she lived on a plantation in Ala. with black slaves, nor more than I believe that Natalee had any intentions but to go back to her hotel on that night.
#71. Maggie, 100% of the sane SM posters agree with you. You don’t have to defend your beliefs. Seems the only ones that aren’t acknowledging what happened to Natalee are on Aruba. Anyone with an IQ above a bb knows the island’s government was complicit in the cover up of the kidnapping, rape and murder of Natalee Ann Holloway.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that an employee at the Imo’s Pizza restaurant where Devlin worked received a phone call from Devlin’s home while FBI agents were there questioning Devlin.
Excerpt: “It was a mystery, too, why Shawn hid with Devlin and did not try to contact his family. Devlin’s co-worker at the Imo’s, who didn’t want to be identified by name, said a boy called the restaurant early Friday afternoon and said he was looking for Devlin. The worker said he noticed on the caller-ID that the call was from Devlin’s home, and asked the boy who he was. He said the boy told him, “‘I’m Shawn Wilcox. My father is a friend of Mike Devlin.’” The co-worker said the call came in while FBI agents were questioning Devlin in Imo’s back parking lot.”
http://tinyurl.com/u9ecj
It is very disturbing to know that Devlin was able to turn the captive boy, Shawn Hornbeck, into a co-captor, his helper, holding Ben Ownby captive for Michael Devlin while the boys were alone in the apartment. I’m sure Shawn’s conduct is blamed on the effects of physical and psychological abuse while in captivity, the so-called Stockholm syndrome, but it is no less amazing that he made no attempt to escape from his captivity and creepy too that he did not liberate the Ownby boy when he had opportunity.
I am sorry, but the problem i have with shawn is the fact that he had a cell phone, he had freedom to go to friends house, to the mall and even had access to the computer! Come on! This kid apparently did not want to be found! Why I ask. What are some of the details of his life before the kidnapping…This kid told people his mother had been killed in an auto accident. What the heck, cops took him and his friend to the apartment when they were out past curfew! Hello, why didn’t he say something then! I don’t understand that! Devlin worked in a pizza parlor and held another job and left him alone all the time. There was no duck tape, tied up hands and bars on window or even curtains! This kid could not of been brainwashed. Thats crazy… He was aloud to go over and spend the night with his friend and mother of 5 kids, since he was 11. The mother said he giggled when he saw the bullentins on the news of himself… They would make comments that he looked like that boy; and he would just giggle..What the hell is that! Going on the site where your parents are looking for you and asking ~can i write a poem for your son? Thats cruel! I am glad he is alive but I got to wonder what is he all about…………………
After many hours of research on a website The true Crime Blog, I have now come to realize that maybe there is something that the poor kid was afraid of. This horrible man may have threatened his life or his mom’s life. I guess we don’t really know how we would react in a situation like this until we have lived it! Shawn is such a cute kid and I hope that he can heal. Little Ben is so sweet and innocent and i am so glad he was found so soon. I hope Michael Devlin didn’t harm him in the 4 days he was gone. This is a sad story and there are lots of questions that everyone has. I guess we should just wait and see the outcome before judging. After all I have heard in many comments, that shawn is still a victim. Why he didn’t try to escape, only he can say. But I am so glad I did more research on this. I am just glad they are alive and with their families!
We know very little of the psychological factors involved.
This article may caution us about making snap judgements, not to mention recalling the Elizabeth Smart case. I don’t even begin to understand how this kid didn’t try to escape, but we don’t know what threats were made to him.
Missing Boy Controlled By His Captor, Experts Say
Kidnapped four years ago, he had chances to escape
By Christopher Leonard
Associated Press
Published on 1/15/2007
Kirkwood, Mo. – For more than four years, Shawn Hornbeck seemed to have had every chance to escape, left alone for hours to ride his bike, play video games and walk past missing-child posters showing his own age-progressed image.
But mental health experts say this troubling case is hardly so simple, and that Hornbeck was likely kept mentally shackled by terror and domination from the man accused of kidnapping him, 41-year-old Michael Devlin.
“I think it’s a real mistake to judge this child. Whatever he did to this point to stay alive is to his credit,” said Terri Weaver, an associate psychology professor at Saint Louis University.
Weaver, an expert on post traumatic stress disorder, said children in such situations kick into survival mode, “doing what needs to be done to keep yourself going day-to-day.”
Devlin, a 300-pound pizza parlor manager, is accused of abducting Hornbeck four years ago when the slight boy, taken as he was riding his bike, was just 11. Now a gangly 15-year-old with floppy hair and a pierced lip, he was found by surprise Friday when police acting on a tip went to Devlin’s modest-two-bedroom apartment in this St. Louis suburb to rescue 13-year-old Ben Ownby, who had been snatched four days earlier on his way home from school.
Now investigators are piecing together the details of Hornbeck’s captivity and Ownby’s abduction, trying to discover how the man kept the boys captive in an apartment where neighbors often heard banging, shouting and arguing.
Residents in Hornbeck’s hometown of Richwoods were shocked the boy could have so much contact with the outside world but remain at his captor’s side – refusing to flee even as Devlin worked two jobs that forced him to leave Hornbeck and, later, Ownby, alone.
Weaver said repeated contact with outsiders can actually reinforce an abducted child’s sense of helplessness.
“Over time, your safety has been threatened. You are a child. You may have been traumatized in other ways. You may feel helpless to reach out to other people,” she said.
The case is reminiscent of the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping. The Salt Lake City teen was taken for nine months by a religious zealot and passed up several chances to escape.
Stephen Golding, a forensic psychologist who examined the suspect in the Smart case, said captors often establish control over their victims through fear.
“People are led to believe, through someone taking advantage of their vulnerabilities, that leaving is not an option, that things will get worse for them or will get worse for others,” Golding said.
Neighbors describe Devlin as a loner with a quick temper. He obsessed over a reserved parking space at his apartment complex.
Rob Bushelle, who lives in Devlin’s complex, said he made that mistake last fall. Devlin arrived in his white pickup with an adolescent boy in his passenger seat, whom Bushelle now recognizes as Hornbeck. Devlin became furious and began shouting at Bushelle, demanding he move. Bushelle refused, and Devlin called police.
While Devlin spoke with officers, Hornbeck got out of Devlin’s truck and walked into the building, Bushelle said.
Devlin was raised in the St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves. His family released a statement Saturday praising law enforcement agencies for returning Ownby and Hornbeck to their families. Devlin’s relatives said they prayed for Ownby’s safe return when they learned last week he was kidnapped, and said “the past few days have been incredibly difficult.
“Just as we are relieved that both Ben and Shawn are now safe, we hope that Michael will be safe as the facts of his case are revealed.”
Devlin’s childhood neighbors told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Devlin was adopted and one of six children.
Sarah Sullivan described him as a quiet child in an otherwise outgoing family. He was always big for his age and avoided sports. He had a hot temper and spent a lot of time in his room, she said.
Devlin got a job at Imo’s Pizza when he was in high school. He never left the pizza parlor over the years. He has no apparent criminal past, except for a pair of traffic fines, officials said.
“He’s smarter than most people, so he liked to be a smart aleck,” co-worker Gus Nanos told the newspaper.
“In his calmer moments, he would be an incredibly nice and thoughtful person,” Nanos said.
Co-workers noticed that Devlin became more withdrawn in 2002, the year Hornbeck was abducted. That was also the year Devlin, a diabetic, had a toe amputated.
“He went from being such a teaser to a much quieter person. I felt like he had been humbled by all of his health problems,” Nanos said.
Police say Devlin drove his pickup to Beaufort, Mo., Monday and kidnapped Ownby. A witness spotted his truck and its description was broadcast in an Amber Alert.
Kirkwood police officers Gary Wagster and Chris Nelson spotted the truck Thursday night outside Devlin’s apartment.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Wagster asked Nelson, according to the Post-Dispatch.
A neighbor said the truck belonged to Devlin, and the officers saw him leave his apartment to empty his trash into a trash bin. They questioned Devlin in the parking lot, and he was friendly and cooperative.
His demeanor quickly changed when they pressed him for permission to search his apartment. Devlin became defensive and refused. The officers reported the exchange to the task force in Franklin County trying to track down Ownby. Task force officers went to Devlin’s apartment that night and were also refused entry.
Authorites arrested Devlin while he was at work Friday. They found Ownby in Devlin’s apartment along with Hornbeck, who identified himself when they arrived.
The families of both boys have refused to comment beyond a pair of news conferences they held Saturday, during which the boys were told not to talk to reporters.
I noticed both the boys have left ear earrings and Shawn still had an earring on. Could those boys have known each other before Shawn’s disappearance?
It has been said Shawn was seen driving the white pickup truck around…could it be possible that it was Shawn who met Ben at the bus stop and drove away with him after he
talked to him and was fearful Ben would talk to someone?
This is a weird senerio!
GOD is so good. My heart goes out to these families. As far as what happened to them only the courts need to know that, because these boys have to go on in life and it will be hard enough coping with life itself. they have their families and i am sure they will be in lots of counseling. But this is very personal and they need to start a healing process asap. I will be praying for these families.
Hey Guys I’m Sooooo happy that they found shawn and ben…God touched them because they are home and safe where they are sposed to be……it sucks to loose someone I’m only 13 years old and i just lost my brother and cousin in a car crash comming home. :’( So Everyone should be thank full to have their loved ones……And Shawns family….When their son came up missing my church prayed for them Every day
[...] Michael Devlin, who has already been charged with the kidnappings of Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck, has now been charged with the molestation and sodomy of the two boys. We knew eventually these charges were going to be brought forth and the unpleasant reality of what these two boys went through would come to light after authorities found Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck in Devlin’s apartment. [...]
[...] boy pushed into a white pickup truck. When the miraculous news occurred that William “Ben” Ownby was found safe and alive, no one could have imagined at the time that Shawn Hornbeck, who had been missing since 2002, would [...]
devlin is the devil and horrible and i hate him even though i font know him hes evil and he belongs in HELL
kidnappers r horrible i should know i was kidnapped for 2 days only but i know how its feels to get raped and stuff and i escaped at night
i wonder if shawn and ben had a plan or something and i also wonder who saw ben get taken
Did you see the recent interview of Judge Jeanine, on Fox, who talked about
the recent JonBenet Ramsey documents that came out?