Kidnapper told boy his parents did not want him

thisislondon.co.uk ^ | 1/15/07

[Halls]

Kidnap victim Shawn Hornbeck was "brainwashed" into staying with his abductor after being told his parents no longer wanted him.

His kidnapper also threatened to shoot the 15-year-old after snatching him off the street.

Friends of the teenager have revealed Michael Devlin, 41, had at least three guns in the apartment where Shawn was held captive.

Tony Douglas, 15, who was Shawn's best friend, said: "We both knew there were guns in the house. Michael told us that he had the guns and were for his protection."

Shawn's stepfather Craig Akers, 45, has revealed his son's life was threatened by Devlin while he lived with him in a ground floor flat in Kirkwood, a suburb of St Louis, Missouri.

[Ohioan from Florida]

You don't need to be outta here. My post to you was not a condemnation of you or your post. I was only giving my perspective, and you've made good points, too. They are both valid.

FWIW, I know that plenty of my posts on FR have irked people over the years. Some people here at FR are not exactly quiet little mice, myself included. We are all here for one reason or another. There's no reason that we can't discuss our ideas maturely, that is, at least none that I can think of at the moment. My best to you!

[SuziQ]

Could be that Shawn was beginning to show some signs of rebellion. May have been why Devlin kidnapped Ben.

[pepperdog]

Not too long after she was found I was at a gathering where it was the item of discussion. Most people there were military. I'll never forget when one, who had been a POW, silenced us all by saying until we'd been held captive for awhile we hadn't a clue about what we'd feel or do. I shut up!

[mel]

IMHO, I think it was a very brave thing for him to do instead of trying to hide. I respect that.

[Txsleuth]

Thanks ...I overreacted...

I don't know anyone that doesn't really want to know how this happened...just in case it happens to someone we know.

OR..if someone goes missing in my area of the country..any ideas about what to look for, or anything that could help me maybe notice a clue...is something I would like to learn about this case.

I want Shawn and Ben to have all of the privacy they need...but anything we find out and throw out, by way of discussion, could help find a boy before he is gone 4 years.

We are cool...

[spectre]

"Quiet little mouse"..bump :)

sw

[Txsleuth]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1767987/posts?page=7#7

This article has a link to "Shawn Devlin"'s blog site..and shows posts made to it his afternoon.

[Ohioan from Florida]

Yes, we are! ;)

[Ohioan from Florida]

:) I love FReepers (ok, most of them)!

[StAnDeliver]

Because "Born in '06" is a bad crop. [Mark 4:1-9] Or from where I'm from, last year's corn done come a'cropper.

We've come a long way from glory days of winning the Good Fight of Bush v. Gore.

2006 will go down in Internet & FReeper history as The Year of the Sockpuppet -- people are now being generously paid by the usual suspects to disrupt this site (and many others) any way they can.

Program callers, Delta freaks, godwinism, witless subterfuge -- but the one thing they can't do is hide their 'birth'date.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

From what I have read, that is probably the case. If you have a son, just ask yourself that question and think of your answer. As one friend said, that's why God does it that way, if they didn't get ugly, you could never let them go.

The first thought I had is how close Shawn may have come to not being found, since his replacement had already been found. I think the unsung hero in this whole thing is the guy who was over at his girlfriend's for the night and called the police about the scream, then asked the police officers the next morning to take a look at the truck. It was all over NBC's local station here. He's the guy who may have saved the day completely and he looked like a typical 20-something knothead with the chin-strap beard, etc., but he knew what he heard and what he wanted the police to look at.

[SuziQ]

That guy along with the young man who noticed the white truck and made the local LEOs aware of it, and so when they saw it at the apartment complex, knew something was likely up.

God Bless them both!

[WV Mountain Mama]

I think society doesn't give our youth enough credit. I was watching a show that had a hidden camera thing going. There was a girl who was standing in a square in front of some buildings in NY. A man approached her, grabbed her, she resisted and screamed for help like crazy. All the middle aged and older white people just looked and kept walking. Guess what, 3 black kids ages 18-22, acted. They separated and flanked the guy while one was on his phone calling police and probably taking a picture. As a generation X'er, I was never so proud of the next one!!

[FreedomGuru]

Has anybody questioned this article/story that is published in a British entertainment newspaper? Is there any confirmation on US news sites? I looked at a couple sites and don't see them

[ZAKJAN2]

Well, under normal circumstances Teenagers rebel. This poor kid a the age of 11, could have been raped and beaten 10 times a day, starved, tortured...God only knows what this sick pup did to this poor boy. Even tho this child is now a teenager, he may not have progressed mentally or emotionally since he's been away, or even worse , he may have regressed. If you think about this in the proper context, its not so hard to comprehend. Maybe not understand, but...comprehend.

[StAnDeliver]

"Also, the Assistant Manager at the Imo's Pizza Parlor went to the police when he couldn't ignore the nagging little voice in his head that his Manager owned a truck just like the one described and that Devlin had been absent from work on Monday and Tuesday of that week. He felt like he was crazy to be talking to the police about the boss he had had for 20 years, but he couldn't deny that prompt he was getting from his conscience. That's how it came down."

Jesus is Lord over the affairs of men.

[seekthetruth]

I also want confirmation on something. Someone posted that Michael Delvin got bond posted. Is that true and he is out of jail? I can't believe that this would be allowed to happen! Please tell me he is still behind bars!!

[Constitutions Grandchild]

"Jesus is Lord over the affairs of men."

Eggzactly!!!!

[Constitutions Grandchild]

Plea has been entered -- Not Guilty -- if you can believe that. Don't think this poor man is going to post $100,000.00, but his family may. Haven't had access to home or media, so can't confirm release, but stranger things have been known to happen.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

1 Million bail assessed.