Ecstatic parents of boys found in
Missouri hail 'miracle'
January 12, 2007
 ST.
LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) -- Grinning families hugged their sons
Saturday, the day after the two boys were rescued -- one after being
missing for four days, the other for four years.
Doris Ormby said she was "just,
just ecstatic" to be reunited with her 13-year-old son Ben, found
Friday in a man's apartment in suburban St. Louis, Missouri.
"I didn't say anything, I just
grabbed him and held him," she said of seeing Ben as he and Shawn
Hornbeck, 15, missing since 2002, were reunited with their families.
Ben had been missing since Monday.
The boys' joyful families spoke at
separate news conferences Saturday, each filled with emotion and
overwhelming relief.
Shawn's mother, Pam Akers, and his
stepfather, Craig Akers, were elated at having Shawn back, four
years after he vanished. (Watch
a tearful Craig Akers describe the phone call he says he will
remember for ever )
"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. (Watch
the boys shortly after being rescued )
"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."
"We're really afraid to go asleep
... wake up and this was all a dream," he said. "Thank God I woke
up, and it's not a dream, and here we are."
They held their news conference
quickly, the Akers said, to give hope to parents whose children were
still missing. Craig Akers said he remembered the day he heard Utah
teenager Elizabeth Smart was found -- on March 12, 2003, nearly a
year after being kidnapped.
"I remember how much that raised
our hopes, how much fuel that gave us to keep going," he said. The
conference was held in a room decorated with balloons and handmade
posters that read "Miracles Do Happen" and "We All Missed You,
Shawn."
"I want to give that hope to the
families, to the family that their kids can come home," Pam Akers
said. "It may be years later, may be days later, may be weeks later,
but they can come home safe and just always keep that faith and
hope."
Shawn was last seen riding his bike
to a friend's house in October 2002.
Michael J. Devlin, 41, was arrested
Friday in connection with the case and has been charged with one
count of first-degree kidnapping, said Franklin County Prosecutor
Robert Parks.
Devlin was being held on $1 million
bail, and more charges are likely, Parks said. (Watch
as Devlin is detained by police )
The boys were found in Kirkwood,
Missouri, about an hour away from the Akers' home in Richwoods. (Full
story)
The break came after reports of a
sighting of a rusty white Nissan pickup truck that matched the
description of one sought in the disappearance of Ben, last seen
getting off his school bus in Franklin County, near St. Louis.
Two police officers in suburban
Kirkwood went to the apartment complex to serve an unrelated warrant
and spotted the pickup, Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke told
reporters Friday. (Watch
how police found the boys )
"That resulted in the recovery,"
Toelke said.
It is not clear what happened to
the boys while they were with Devlin, but Craig Akers said Shawn did
not go to school during the four years he's been missing.
"All the questions will come
later," said Pam Akers. "We're just trying to absorb that he's
home."
Moment of recognition Craig Akers
described driving home from work and getting the call that Shawn
might have been found. "It took a minute to find a suitable place to
pull over," he said. The words -- "We think we found Shawn, we're 95
percent sure that we found Shawn and that he's alive" -- were the
sweetest words I ever heard in my life," he said.
Driving to see their son was "the
longest drive we ever had to do," he said.
When the parents and Shawn saw each
other, there were no words, he said.
"Just a split second of shock,"
Akers recounted. "The last time we saw him, he was yea tall and 11
years old. It kind of throws you for a second. But ... once we saw
the face, we said, "Oh, my God, that's my son...
"That was pretty much where we were
the first five minutes. Not a lot of words spoken, except a lot of
'I love you's,' kisses, and 'We're so glad that you're home.' "
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