Parents Rejoice After 2 Mo. Boys Found
January 12, 2007
By CHRISTOPHER LEONARD
BEAUFORT, Mo. - For better than
four years, Shawn Hornbeck's parents dealt with their grief over the
11-year-old's disappearance by devoting themselves to bringing
missing people home.
On Saturday, they showed off their
best argument for hanging onto hope _ the boy, now a shaggy-haired
15-year-old, joined them at a news conference a day after police
found him and another recently abducted boy at a suburban St. Louis
apartment, both alive and apparently well.
"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."
Hornbeck did not speak, but he
smiled often, his mother's arm draped around him, and seemed at
ease. He was much bigger than pictures of the missing 11-year-old,
his hair darker and longer.
Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, 13,
disappeared 4 1/2 years and 40 miles apart. Ownby hadn't been seen
since getting off a school bus Monday afternoon. Both towns are
within 60 miles of St. Louis.
A routine search warrant led police
to investigate the Kirkwood, Mo., apartment dweller, Michael Devlin,
41, an Imo's Pizza manager and part-time funeral home worker. He was
charged with first-degree kidnapping and bail was set at $1 million.
An elated Franklin County Sheriff
Gary Toelke, who headed the search for Ben, began a news conference
Friday by telling reporters, "We have some good news and we have
some probably unbelievable news."
The key to finding the boys was a
beat-up white pickup truck spotted by a schoolmate of Ben's who got
off the bus at the same time. The friend saw the pickup speeding
away about the time Ben vanished from the gravel road near his home.
On Thursday night, Kirkwood city
police officers saw a white truck matching the description. They
traced the owner, contacted the Franklin County Sheriff's
Department, then searched Devlin's home Friday and found the boys.
There were no immediate details
about what police found inside the apartment, or how the boys might
have been detained. Toelke said authorities were still trying to
learn the motive behind the abductions. Franklin County Prosecutor
Robert Parks said more charges are likely.
"There are a lot of things we don't
know right now," Toelke said.
After being reunited with their
families, both boys were taken to SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's
Hospital in St. Louis for evaluation. Hospital spokesman Bob
Davidson said both were in good spirits.
"The boys were smiling and appeared
very pleased to be with their families," Davidson said. "Obviously
the families were incredibly tickled to have the boys back. It's a
thrilling night."
Ben's uncle, Loyd Bailie, told The
Associated Press that Ben was delighted when he saw his parents.
"His eyes lit up like silver
dollars," Bailie said.
In Kirkwood, one of Devlin's
neighbors, Rick Butler, 43, said FBI agents came to his door
Thursday night and showed him a picture of Ben.
He said he had not seen the boy but
had seen another boy he believes was Hornbeck. He 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 in the courtyard.
"I didn't see or hear anything odd
or unusual from the apartment," Butler said. "I just figured them
for father and son."
___
Associated Press writers Cheryl
Wittenauer, Betsy Taylor and Jim Salter in St. Louis contributed to
this report.
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