Posted on 01/15/2007 2:02:45 PM PST by valkyrieanne
With Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby safe at home with their families, authorities on Sunday turned to their next most pressing task — getting some answers.
Exactly how did the two teens end up in the Kirkwood apartment of pizzeria manager Michael J. Devlin?
What were his intentions for them? Did he harm them? And why did Shawn stay with him for 4 1/2 years, apparently posing as his son, while his real family pleaded for his return?
Investigators interviewed both boys Saturday, but the public will have to wait for any insight into the ordeals they faced. Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke said Sunday that he could not disclose anything that was discussed.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Meanwhile, a boy who said he was Shawn's best friend for the past four years told KTVI (Channel 2) that he saw Shawn nearly every day but had no idea his friend had been abducted.
In the interview, Tony Douglas said he went to the movies and the mall with Shawn — even got stopped by police three times for being out late at night. And he said Shawn claimed that Devlin, the man he said was his father, was good to him.
It also mentions that child pornography was found on Devlin's PC.
The way this is being handled makes me proud to live in Missouri. I hope they never release the gory details, which add absolutely nothing of value to the story. Boys found, bad guy caught. End of story.
Would someone please refresh my memory.
I've heard of Kirkwood and as a kid lived in Hazelwood and Creve Coeur. Is it next to either one of those?
These types of cases are so baffling. You wonder why the kids didn't collar a stranger, or a cop - someone - and tell them they were kidnap victims. I saw the pizzeria owner where the perp worked being interview. How could someone work for you for 25 years and yet you are in the dark about this? It's all so strange.
It's pretty scary to see how kids are manipulated and threatened into emotional entrapment. As an adult, it's hard to comprehend being too afraid to ask for help. In light of this case, we've talked to both our sons (11 and 13) about how these creeps lie and intimidate their captives. We don't want to scare them too much, but if, God forbid, they are ever abducted, we want to give them a little better chance of getting back home.
No, Hazelwood is way up in No. County and Creve Couer is central. Kirkwood is SW. county- and it's a grat place tp live. The apts. where they were found has catered to transient folks for years now.
We do live in Kirkwood - South of Creve Coeur (where I grew up) off of I270. I'm guessing I have purchased some half dozen or so pizzas from this Imo's. I recognized this creep as soon as the correct picture was posted on Greta. My three daughters (aged 5,7 & 11) have been inside his store, had him 'ring up' our pizza, using my credit card. The infamous old Nissan pickup was always parked in front, in the heart of the city - absolutely frightening! I never put two and two together until Friday evening. I feel horrible the old Nissan did not register with me, upon the first Amber alerts.
I guess he had enough self control to avoid giving himself away. He seems to be pretty high functioning in a low rent kind of way.
It doesn't really seem like Devlin intimidated him or manipulated him.
The boy went to the mall and the movies regularly with his buddies, but didn't go to school.
It is hard to know what he was thinking, or if he was thinking.
Me too. We're in that Imo's all the time and I had a vague recollection of him after seeing his picture.
This kid was being hid in plain site. Don't go beating yourself up. Just be glad that he was finally rescued.
The Hornbeck case is a very interesting one, indeed. But I have the feeling that we, the public, will never be told what actually 'went down.' The media and the predictable 'talking heads' will continue to tell us all about the Stockholm Syndrome, as if that is the answer. I don't believe any of it, not even for a minute.
Just out of curiosity, why do you not believe that Shawn Hornbeck could have been afflicted with Stockholm syndrome? In the case that the syndrome is named after (a 1970s Stockholm bank robbery by terrorists), one of the women captives even *married* one of the thugs. That's a grown woman - how much chance does an 11 year old boy have against a determined adult?
What can you do? There are white Nissan pickups all over. It's a popular vehicle. Everybody is saying, "People could have done something," but I don't know what. Apartment complexes are kind of impersonal places, anyway.
Not really. I read somewhere (not in the article linked) that the boy might have even occasionally come to work with his abductor, running food out to waiting cars. The St. Louis Post Dispatch mentioned that the alleged abductor might have told people that Hornbeck was his "godson." St. Louis is a very Catholic community and godparents are close to their godchildren here; it's not just an antiquated custom. From what I read, this whole thing is very believable.
It is very unique that this boy survived that long. What did he do to survive? I would think it would be useful for parents to know this.
The details you speak of aren't the ones I don't want them to talk about.
In the case you cited, we are talking about a hostage situation of some 4 or 5 days. In the Hornbeck case we are talking about a 4 1/2 year captivity. And, it may be wise to remember that the Hornbeck boy had access to telephone, radio, television, and computer. Hardly a closed universe. In addition, he had friends and socialized often out of the home. Combine all of that with the knowledge that his parents were actively searching for him and you should have a few questions of your own about this case.
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