Finding Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby
On Jan. 12, 2007, Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby were found. Ben had been missing for a few days, but Shawn had been missing for more than four years. The discovery that the boys were alive and kept captive by Michael Devlin in Kirkwood made national news.
Shawn Hornbeck stays close to his mother, Pam Akers, during a press conference Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007, in Richwoods, the morning after he was found along with Ben Ownby in a Kirkwood apartment. Hornbeck, 15, was last seen riding his bike four years earlier in Richwoods. Photo by Huy Mach of the Post-Dispatch
The front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Jan. 14, 2007, showcases the safe return of two missing boys: Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby.
Amanda Schroepfer, 17, puts up a "Welcome Home" sign at the Voss Market in Beaufort on Friday, Jan. 12, 2007, after the news came that Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck were safe. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
Ron Cobb, owner of Cobb's Grocery store in Richwoods, tapes on the word "FOUND" on Shawn Hornbeck's missing poster on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007. Hornbeck was reunited with his family the night before after he, as well as Ben Ownby, were found. Photo by Huy Mach of the Post-Dispatch
Shawn Hornbeck (center), his mother, Pam Akers (left), and step-father, Craig Akers (right), greet friends as they walk into a press conference on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007, at Richwoods School. Hornbeck, 15, was last seen riding his bike four years earlier in Richwoods. He was rescued the day before this press conference. Photo by Huy Mach of the Post-Dispatch
Local and national news media meet for a press conference with Shawn Hornbeck and his parents on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007, at Richwoods School. Hornbeck, 15, was last seen riding his bike four years earlier in Richwoods. Photo by Huy Mach of the Post-Dispatch
Krista Jones, of Kirkwood lived across from Michael Devlin's apartment, where missing children Ben Ownby, 13, and Shawn Hornbeck, 15, were found on Jan. 12, 2007. Ownby, a Franklin County boy, had been missing since for several days and Hornbeck, from Washington County, had been missing since 2002. "It's scary," she said in an interview Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007.. "You never think it could be your neighbor. It could have been one of my kids." Jones said she had heard Devlin call Shawn by name and said the boy seemed to keep to himself. "I thought it was strange he was never in school," she said. "I would see him ride his bike around, drive the truck." Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Michael Devlin is seen in this photo provided by the Washington County Sheriff's Department prior to his arraignment Monday, May 21, 2007, in Potosi, Mo. (AP Photo/Washington County Sheriff's Department)
In this photo released by Harpo Productions, Shawn Hornbeck poses with Oprah Winfrey, his aunt Shari Frazier (left) and his parents, Craig and Pam Akers, after taking a segment for The Oprah Winfrey Show on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2007. (AP Photo/Harpo Productions)
Pam Akers (left), the mother of 11-year-old Shawn Hornbeck, is comforted at her home by her niece Kathy Drennen, 19, of Potosi, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2002, the day after he disappeared. Rescue workers and volunteers are searching the area near Richwoods, Mo., in rural Washington County where the boy lives and was last seen. Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr. of the Post-Dispatch
William Wadsworth and his dog, Cheyenne, search a junkyard on Friday, Oct. 11, 2002, along Highway A in Richwoods for Shawn Hornbeck. Post-Dispatch file photo
The eighth-grade graduation ceremony at the Richwoods School in Richwoods held on May 18, 2006, included a chair that was left empty for Shawn Hornbeck, draped with his graduation gown. Shawn had been missing since 2002. He would have graduated with this group. Courtesy of the Pruitt family
Schoolmates of Ben Ownby get ready to hand out fliers for the missing boy on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007, after they left Union Middle School in Union, Mo. Samantha Mihlfeld (left), 14, from Union; Dylan Meyer (center), 14, from Beaufort; and Krystle Hampton, 14, from Union, divide up fliers that they passed out around the town square in Union. Some of the posters announced a prayer vigil at the school Wednesday evening. Ben was found two days later. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
Classmates of Ben Ownby participate in a candlelight prayer vigil on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007, in front of Union Middle School in Union, Mo. From left: Cara Maconochie, 13; Celeste Hansel, 13; Emily Porter, 12; and Katie O'Rear, 13. All the girls live in Union. Over 200 people participated in the prayer service in hopes that Ben Ownby would be found. Ben, who disappeared after getting off his school bus near his home in Beaufort, was discovered two days later in Kirkwood. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
A jersey signed by Shawn Hornbeck's Little League teammates the season after his disappearance hangs in the office of the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation, also the Akerses' home, in Richwoods on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007. Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle of the Post-Dispatch
Mitchell Hults (left), Sheri Hults, and Mike Hults (right) greet neighbor William "Ben" Ownby at his home in Beaufort on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007. It was the first meeting between the Hultses and Ben since he was kidnapped on Jan. 8. Mitchell provided authorities with a description of the kidnapper's vehicle, a key piece of information that led to Ben's rescue four days later. Phtoo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
After finishing an interview with reporters on Wednesday, May 8, 2013, Shawn Hornbeck shows a tattoo he had done. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Shawn Hornbeck talks about his tattoos on Wednesday, May 8, 2013. One says "Faith," the other, "Respect." Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
On Oct. 6, 2002, Shawn Hornbeck, 11, left his Richwoods home on his bicycle to visit a friend. He vanished for the next four years and three months until his unlikely rescue
The trail of a child kidnapping in 2007 led to an apartment in Kirkwood where Shawn Hornbeck, missing for more than four years, was found too.