Posted on 01/13/2007 5:58:32 PM PST by valkyrieanne
'There was no inkling that something like this would ever be linked with him,' a funeral chapel co-worker says.
He was a private man who kept to himself. He paid the rent on time. He stayed out of trouble. He won his employer's respect, even getting a referral for a second job.
Michael J. Devlin, 41, was never a suspect in the disappearance of Shawn Hornbeck four years ago, even though the boy lived in his Kirkwood apartment in full view of neighbors.
And yet, it appeared Friday that the unassuming Devlin had pulled an unbelievable con — hiding in plain view in the quintessential American suburb with a boy whose face was on mass mailings across the country. A boy whose abduction was a huge local story.
Shawn "was always riding his bike and stuff," said Shavonne Butler, who lived next door to Devlin. "He had friends in the neighborhood … we just thought it was his son or something."
It wasn't as if Devlin was some anonymous drifter. He was from St. Louis. Some of his family members live in town. He was a 1984 graduate of Webster Groves High School. He worked at an Imo's pizza parlor in Kirkwood.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Did Shawn Hornbeck leave possible clues for those searching for him on a website created after he went missing in October 2002?
In the early morning of Dec. 1, 2005, a person who identified himself as Shawn Devlin of Kirkwood posted a message at www.shawnhornbeck.com that read "how long are you planing (sic) to look for your son?"
Later that same day, the same person posted another message, also with misspellings, that apologized for the previous post and asked if it would be OK to write a poem for the Hornbeck family and their son Shawn in his honor.
"It would be cool if I could but if you dont want me to I can understan why I guess ... ,'' the message read.
Police found Shawn on Friday in the Kirkwood apartment of Michael J. Devlin, 41.
..........
Scroll down to the middle, December, 2005
this is a very strange story...how could Devlin's family not know this was not his kid? Huh?
how could Devlin's family not know this was not his kid? Huh?
That has been my question...I understand there have been posters up of Shawn all over the area for years.....were Devlin's family blind?....I'd like to hear what they have to say!
How about the FBI explaining why they didn't check
with registered sex offenders for missing boys?
Devlin doesn't have a record - just 2 traffic tickets in the 1980s.
There is also some good local news stories found here, along with links in the topic box that provide more info than I've seen in any other place:
Oh my that is so strange! Thanks for posting that.
There was also a cached yahoo personal page for him. I didn't stash it, so i don't know where it is. It was weird because it had his picture, but the email address was Michael's. Maybe Michael was trolling for other boys using Shawn as bait. Who knows. Terrible, terrible, terrible and I'm afraid we're about to get all the FR crazies who will blame the kid...Think I'm nuts? Just wait. It's already started.
It's in the article if you read it. The article states he had family "in the area." They said they didn't know about the boy. Not all families get together for Sunday dinner.
His family says that he was distant and that they had no idea a boy was living with him.
I read it....but I still don't buy it....4years?........hmmmmmmmmmm!
Remember, "I Know My Name is Steven"?
Steven was abducted and later found. His brother ended up decapitating some woman in California. Steven then was killed in a motorcycle accident when he was an adult.
What a horrible story. I thought about it when I heard this boy who had been missing for four years was found.
I wonder what this boy has been thru, and what he will be put thru with the media and peers.
I pray for him and his family.
Yeah, I saw that. It had his name as "shawn-the-pumpkin-king" and a photo of a young kid who was obviously shawn, probably from a year ago or so. He listed hobbies as "writing poetry" and some other things. I wondered idly if yahoo keeps logs of the chats for these screen names. I wonder as I have no idea. Oddly enough, the page must not be well known as it's still up.
that's weird..the page I saw had a different picture and more information! Hmmm...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.