Missing Missouri Teen William ‘Ben’ Ownby FOUND ALIVE … with 2002 Missing Boy, Shawn Hornbeck (Suspect: Michael J. Devlin)
Posted in: Amber Alert,Missing Persons
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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