Thread: Missing Missouri boys found alive

I saw the show. I feel so bad for the kid that he has not had any schooling or education in the last 4 1/2 years, and I thought that it kind of showed in the way that he talked. That means that he is now going to be almost 5 years behind his peers. I am hoping that someone (like Oprah) will step up to the plate and hire him a personal tutor and get him back up to the school level that he should be. Would it not be great for him to be able to end up graduating with the people that he would have if none of this happened???

I am also so glad that he was found along with the other little boy. It pulls at my heartstrings to think of what both of them and their families went through during the time that the boys were missing. I know I would be a complete basketcase if something ever happened to one of my boys!

Before I even read this posting or heard it on the news, I was thinking that they would find out that Devlin was connected to others. Seems to me that he likes boys who are approximately 11, and that maybe at a certain age they get too old for his liking. I do not even want to mention what I think his grand plan was for the two boys had they not been found. I will say that I think that they found Shawn in the nick of time.

Did you see how Shawn said that he prayed every night and did the cross on his chest that he would be reunited with his family??!! God answers prayers!

I just hope that after all the healing - even if it is 20 years from now - that we, the public, can get an update on how Shawn is doing. It would be wonderful to see him go on in life and do something like be a children's advocate or FBI agent specializing in child abductions like that guy on Oprah, etc.

Okay, I have rambled on enough. In short, I am just so amazed and happy that the boys were found and reunited with their families.

....Now I just hope Devlin gets the justice that the boys' deserve!

I felt HORRIBLE for Shawn being on the show He seemed ok in the one on one part, but when he was in the audience, he just looked lost.

Sorry...me again! I think that the Devlin guy on the myspace.com posting listed earlier is possibly Michael Devlin's brother or something, but I do not think it is him. I will admit that the similarities in looks is chilling, but as it was mentioned before, the education does not match up. Also, Michael Devlin is 41, and the guy on myspace is 44. That would also lead me to believe that maybe they are brothers. The final thing that I noticed was the part way at the bottom where it lists his "Companies" or employer. It says Hanover Prime, Managing Director from 1999 to present. We all know that Michael Devlin was a manager at the local pizza place named Imo's. (Unless Imo's corporate name is Hanover Prime, and "Managing Director" is fancy-talk for "pizza parlor manager"......)

I would still conclude that the guy on myspace is a brother, but not the guy who was arrested.

Originally Posted by MOM2B2003

Sorry...me again! I think that the Devlin guy on the myspace.com posting listed earlier is possibly Michael Devlin's brother or something, but I do not think it is him. I will admit that the similarities in looks is chilling, but as it was mentioned before, the education does not match up. Also, Michael Devlin is 41, and the guy on myspace is 44. That would also lead me to believe that maybe they are brothers. The final thing that I noticed was the part way at the bottom where it lists his "Companies" or employer. It says Hanover Prime, Managing Director from 1999 to present. We all know that Michael Devlin was a manager at the local pizza place named Imo's. (Unless Imo's corporate name is Hanover Prime, and "Managing Director" is fancy-talk for "pizza parlor manager"......)

I would still conclude that the guy on myspace is a brother, but not the guy who was arrested.

I thought about that too, but not everyone is honest on their myspace info. I assume that if it is him the page would have been taken down .. who knows!

Devlin pleads to kidnapping, sodomy
By CHRISTOPHER LEONARD, Associated Press Writer
49 minutes ago

CLAYTON, Mo. - The horror faced by two boys abducted in rural Missouri was revealed Tuesday in court, where their captor pleaded guilty and prosecutors said a video showing him torture one of them underlines why he should die in prison.

Michael Devlin offered no apologies but shed light on why one of his victims stayed with him more than four years: The terrorized boy cut a deal just as Devlin was beginning to strangle him. "This boy made this contract, this deal with the devil, only to survive," Washington County prosecutor John Rupp said.

Devlin abducted the second boy early this year, days before both victims were discovered alive in his apartment in a St. Louis suburb. Devlin received dozens of life sentences after his pleas in Washington and St. Louis counties Tuesday. He pleaded guilty in Franklin County on Monday and is to appear in federal court on Wednesday.

The hearings were part of an elaborate deal his attorneys struck in the four jurisdictions, where Devlin was charged with more than 80 counts, including sexual assault, kidnapping and attempted murder.

Devlin said through his attorneys that he accepted his punishment because he knew what he did was wrong — a statement quickly dismissed by prosecutors and the boys' families. "He pleaded guilty because he does not want the world to know the full extent of what he did," said St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch.

During the Washington County hearing, Devlin admitted in graphic detail how he abducted Shawn Hornbeck in 2002 and described the point at which Shawn apparently turned from a kidnap victim into a powerless captive.

Several feet away, Shawn's parents wept.

After the boy, then 11, was abducted at gunpoint while riding his bike in rural Washington County, Devlin took him to his apartment in suburban St. Louis and repeatedly sexually assaulted him. Days later, Devlin took Shawn back to Washington County in his pickup truck, apparently intent on killing the boy.

He said he pulled Shawn from his truck and began to strangle him. Shawn resisted. "I attempted to kill (Shawn) and he talked me out of it," Devlin said Tuesday.

Devlin stopped the choking, but then sexually assaulted the boy again. Prosecutors say it was at that point that Shawn told Devlin he would do whatever was asked of him to stay alive. It was a "devil's bargain" that kept Shawn under Devlin's sway, even as the boy had phone and Internet access, said Shawn's stepfather, Craig Akers. "We know now the details that made him not run away," Akers said after the hearings.

At the St. Louis County hearing, prosecutors said Devlin kept Shawn tied for weeks to a futon or a couch, with duct tape over his mouth. Devlin left the boy alone when he went to work at the pizzeria during the days and returned at night to sexually assault him. Prosecutors said Devlin also made a videotape of himself torturing Shawn while the boy screamed for him to stop.

Devlin abducted Ben Ownby in rural Franklin County on Jan. 8. A schoolmate's tip about a white pickup truck helped lead authorities to Devlin's apartment, where Ben and Shawn were rescued Jan. 12 as Devlin, a pizzeria manager, worked the day shift at his shop. Prosecutors said Devlin abused Ben every day before the boy was rescued.

Devlin's attorneys said the evidence against him made a trial "impossible." Attorney Michael Kielty specifically referred to the videotape prosecutors described.

Devlin is set to have a final hearing Wednesday morning in federal court on charges of making the videotape and transporting Shawn across state lines. Kielty said he wouldn't comment on what sentence he expects Devlin to receive then.

Devlin pleaded guilty to six counts in Washington County and received the maximum sentence of three life terms in prison plus 60 years for kidnapping, sexually assaulting and attempting to murder Shawn in 2002.

In St. Louis County Circuit Court, he pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnapping and 69 counts of forcible sodomy, and received 18 consecutive life sentences. He received a life sentence in Franklin County on Monday.

Rupp, the Washington County prosecutor, said he was satisfied with the sentences, which mean Devlin would have to live to more than 100 to even have a shot at parole. "You heard it from his own mouth. You've heard what kind of a monster he is," Rupp said.

While it is The Associated Press' policy not to identify suspected victims of sexual abuse in most cases, the story of Shawn and Ben has been widely publicized and their names are well known.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071009/...3vaF8sNKhH2ocA

prosecutors said a video showing him torture one of them underlines why he should die in prison.

Show that tape in prison ... we won't have long to wait ....

I was living in St. Louis when it happed and was so surprised when they found him alive! I have driven past the apts where he was staying. So sad... I am glad he made it but , man he is going to have a hard time w/ lot of counceiling to get past it.

So sad yet great that they found the boys alive. Prayers are with them and their families to help get through the difficult times that will lay ahead.

And I never new Steven Stayner died .. I remember the movie. Didn't know about his brother either .. how tragic.

Mo. boy's years of manipulation, abuse
By CHRISTOPHER LEONARD, Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 10, 7:43 PM ET



KIRKWOOD, Mo. - The former pizza shop manager who abducted two boys and held them captive tightened his psychological hold on the one he kept for four years by taking him along on the kidnapping of the second child.

By doing so, Michael Devlin convinced Shawn Hornbeck that running to the police would get both of them arrested. Devlin essentially said, "OK, buddy, now that you're in the truck with me, you're in as much trouble as I am," said Scott Sherman, an attorney for Shawn and his family.

In the most detailed public explanation yet of how Devlin kept Shawn and the other boy under his control, Sherman and Washington County prosecutor John Rupp told The Associated Press that Shawn did all he could to stop his captor from kidnapping Ben Ownby.

They said Shawn was powerless to fight the man who had systematically abused and manipulated him for years.

Devlin told Shawn in fall 2006 that he planned to kidnap another boy, just as he had taken Shawn in 2002 while the then-11-year-old boy was riding his bike near his home in the town of Richwoods, Rupp said. "Shawn just went ballistic on Devlin, telling him: 'There's no way another boy should have to go through what I went through,'" Rupp told The Associated Press, referring to the years during which Devlin tortured and abused the boy, keeping him isolated in an apartment while forcing him to take the name Shawn Devlin.

The details from Rupp emerged Wednesday after Devlin made his fourth and final guilty plea. In federal court, he admitted to making pornographic photographs and videotapes of Shawn and taking him across state lines to engage in sex acts.

On Monday and Tuesday, Devlin was sentenced immediately to life terms for kidnapping and abusing the boys in Washington, St. Louis and Franklin counties. Devlin received 20 consecutive life sentences, making the 41-year-old ineligible for parole until he is more than 100 years old.

The Associated Press' generally does not identify suspected victims of sexual abuse, but the story of Shawn and Ben has been widely publicized, and their names are well known.

Evidence presented at the hearings painted Devlin as a calculating predator with a seemingly boundless appetite for inflicting pain on young boys — and an uncanny ability to manipulate the circuits of a child's mind.

Rupp said he didn't know of any time that Shawn ever tried to flee Devlin's captivity, because he was terrified Devlin would find him and kill him.

But Shawn's resistance to Devlin had grown so intense by late 2006 that the man realized his normal threats of murder or sexual violence wouldn't control the boy, Sherman said. "When none of those threats can work, and Shawn was going nuts, then the only thing that was left was that Shawn had to be in as much trouble" as Devlin was, Sherman said.

Devlin's lawyers said the accounts of their client are accurate. "I think that Shawn Hornbeck is really a hero," said Ethan Corlija. "He really threw himself on the sword many times so Ben would not have to go through any undue torture."

Devlin admitted to taking Shawn, torturing him and controlling him for four years before kidnapping Ben and keeping him for four days. A manhunt after Ben's disappearance led authorities to Devlin's apartment in suburban St. Louis on Jan. 12, where authorities were shocked to discover Shawn, as well.

It appears that Ben was in more danger than previously known.

Devlin told Shawn that he planned to kill the boy after abusing him and had no intention of taking the risk to create another "son," as he had with Shawn, Rupp said. "He told Shawn that was his plan — he was going to keep Ben for a while and then kill him," Rupp said.

Corlija said he could not comment specifically on that assertion. "The feelings that Devlin had for Hornbeck ran much deeper than they did for Ben Ownby. He wasn't as attached to Ben Ownby."

Devlin admitted in court Tuesday that he tried to kill Shawn soon after kidnapping him. He began to strangle the boy, "and he talked me out of it," Devlin said. At that point, Shawn made a bargain that he would follow Devlin's orders to survive.

Devlin's control over Shawn began as violent and physical, Rupp said. Devlin tied a rope about the boy's waist, then tied it around his own when he slept at night.

Devlin even tied the boy to a futon with duct tape over his mouth while the man worked as the manager of a pizza shop, according to evidence presented Tuesday.

Over time, Shawn's shackles became psychological, Rupp said. Devlin made Shawn submit to sexual abuse in return for toys. He let the boy go outside — but only for moments at first. Eventually, Shawn had a friend, rode his bike around town and surfed the Internet. Ironically, the small freedoms only enhanced Devlin's control, Rupp said. "I think at some point, Devlin made a game out of it: Let's hide you in plain sight and let's see how dumb everyone is," Rupp said.

Though Shawn had some freedom, Devlin kept the boy away from adults who might question their relationship, Sherman said. He kept the boy out of school, didn't introduce him to co-workers and stoked within Shawn a deep distrust of police officers and other authorities. "Anybody normal was like Kryptonite to this monster," Sherman said.

When Devlin was holding Ben, Shawn tried to stay outside the apartment as much as possible, Rupp said. Both boys knew Devlin had a 9 mm gun — which he used to kidnap Ben — and were terrified he would kill them both if they tried to escape or seek help, Rupp said. When the boys were alone in the apartment they watched television and played video games, Rupp said.

On Jan. 12, a tip led authorities to Devlin's apartment. An FBI agent questioned Devlin at the pizzeria, where he confessed to having both boys, Rupp said.

After Devlin's last court appearance, Shawn's father, Craig Akers, described the end of four hearings as a big relief, a "last sigh" for the family. "We're just so glad this is the outcome, that the monster is caged and will remain caged."

Shawn has been watching news coverage of Devlin's guilty pleas and knows he is finally free of the man's grip, Akers said. "He's been following the proceedings for the first time since he's come home," he said.

When asked what words Shawn used when he saw Devlin sentenced on television, Akers and his wife Pam exchanged a quick smile. "There's some of them I don't think I can actually use," Akers said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071010/...UA3twZciGs0NUE

Two words for this scum of the earth. General Population.